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ARCH.€OLOGICAL RESEARCHES

PALESTINE

DURING THE YEARS i873 - i874.

CHARLES CLERMONT-GANNEAU, LL.D.,

Membre de lliistitiif, Professeur an College de France.

Vol. IL

With numerous Illustrations from Drawings made on the spot bv
A. LFXOMTE DU NOUY, Architect.

translated by
JOHN MACFARLANE,

Assistant in the British Alusaun Library.

Published for the Committee of the

PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND,

24, Hanover Square, London.

1896,

LONDON :
HARRISON AND SONS, PRINTERS IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY,

ST. martin's lane, w.c.

PREFATORY NOTE.

By reason of certain circumstances which it would take too long to explain,
it has been thought advisable to publish the second volume of this work
before the first. The Author wishes to apologize for the adoption of this
unusual order, which he decided upon with a view to avoiding further delays.
He hopes that no serious inconvenience will be caused, as the present volume
forms an independent whole, devoted to Palestine, but excluding Jerusalem
and its environs, which will form the subject matter of Volume I. The only
difficulty is that the reader will have to refer to the first volume for the
facsimiles of the numerous masons' marks mentioned in the second volume,
as well as for those in the first. It was thouo-ht that it would be best to
bring together the main types of these marks, classified and numbered, into
a single comprehensive table, followed by a list containing all the necessary
references, and the scheme of the work made the first volume the natural
place for this table.

The Author thinks it incumbent on him to expressly remind the reader
that in this work he in no sense claims to treat ex professo of the archaeology
of Palestine, or even to communicate the general results of the researches
which he has been pursuing in that field for more than seven and twenty
years.

He has endeavoured, as far as possible, to confine his remarks to the
points that he had special opportunity of studying during the period from
1873 to 1874- — that is to say, in the course of the researches which
the Committee kindly entrusted him with — only drawing upon the data
gathered by him before and after that period in so far as they may help
to throw light on those points.

C. C.-G.

February, i S96.

NOTE.

In the transcription of Arabic words and names, endeavours have been made to conform
as far as possible to the system adopted by the Survey Party. In order, however, to
represent certain shades of pronunciation to which the author attaches importance, it has
been found necessary to introduce certain sHght modifications. The chief of these are
as follows : the ain is represented by the sign ' instead of ', the latter being kept to denote
vowels elided in the popular speech ; the vowels with the sign w over them, except in
Khurbet, are short, furtive, epenthetic or prostliciic vowels, which find their way in either
at the middle or beginning of words, and have to be figured in order to give the latter
their proper appearance ; the combination en is occasionally employed to represent a
sound analogous to that which it has in French (akin to o, ii, but more mute and very
short). The diphthong :_ has been rendered sometimes by an and sometimes by o.
In several cases the long vowels have not been marked as such in certain words
currently used (thus sheikh, beit, fellaliin, etc., for sheikh, bcit, felhiJiiii). Occasionally
discrepancies will be noticed in the transcriptions of the same words and names.
These mostly correspond to local and individual peculiarities of pronunciation, which
were noted for what they were worth, and which it was thought better to reproduce in
their original shape, instead of arbitrarily reducing them to more usual forms.

CONTENTS.

Prefatory Note

List of Illustrations .............

CHAPTER I. — From Jaffa to Jerusalem

II. — First Excursion to Jericho

III. — Second Excursion to Jericho

IV. — Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson .

V. — Gezer ...

VI. — Excursion from Jerusalem to Sebaste (Samaria), and from
Sebaste to Gaza . .

APPENDIX I. — In search of Adullam, Gezer, Modin, etc

,, II. — List of Antiquities collected in Palestine in 1873-4

Addenda .

General Index

FACE

iii

9
36

54
224

276

457
484
489

493

A 2

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Abu Ghosh, Latin inscription in the Mediaeval Church at

Crusaders' Tool-Marks ....

Horeira, The wely of ... .

Shusheh, Terra-Cotta figure found at

"Ain Diik. l.id of sarcophagus

"Ain Sinia, Rock-cut tomb with inscription at .

"Akraba, Greek inscription at .

"Amwas, Sketch plan and sections of rock-cut tomb with stone

Profile of cornice of mortar

Greek inscription found in the rock tomb at

Ancient sarcophagus in an Arab sebil

Wine or oil press, views and sections of

"Asayet Musa (" Moses' Rod ")

Ascalon. Carved doves on marble slab .

"Awerta, Cenotaph at .... .

Fragment of column at . . .

el 'Azhek, Position of .... .

door

94:

60
67, 169
242

28s

303

9S> 96

97
^57
453

SO
190

3°9
310

456

Balata, Sarcophagus lid at ..... .

Beit Jibrin, Plan and section of rock-hewn tomb near

Inscription on tomb ......

View of Church of Sandahanna at ...

Plan, section, and details of Church at Sandahanna

Imperial statue found near . . . . .

Jewish capital .......

Beit Nfiba, Plan of Crusading Church at

View and section of holy-water stoup found at

324
445
446

447

44B— 5'

441

442

List of Ilhistratious.

Vll

Beit Thul, Capital at . . .
Bir el Ma'in, Capital in the VVely at .
Bethany, Sculptured stone built in wall
el Burj, Lintel in a house at
B'weireh, Lintels at .

6S
8i

74, 75

Caesarea, Ancient mask from
Marble statue from

156

Deir el Kelt, Greek and Arabic inscription at
Deir Serur, Rock-hewn tomb at

3'
337

E'rak el Kheil. Transverse section of the gallery

— ■ Patterns of the friezes ....

Kriha (Jericho), Architectural details from Tell el Matlab .

443

444

17, 18, 19

Gaza, Courtyard of Greek Convent at

Plan and sections of Mediaeval Church .

General plan of the Great Mosque .

View of the fagade of the Great Mosque

Elevation of the facade of the Great Mosque

Profile of the rose window of the Great Mosque

Plan and elevation of the entrance door of the Great Mosque

— — Springing point of the archivolt of the Great Mosque

Longitudinal section of the Great Mosque

Transverse sections of the Great Mosque

Details of string course of the Great Mosque .

Elevation of pier with Hebrew and Greek inscriptions

The bas-relief on pier

• Inscriptions discovered at

Sculptured gryphon in white marble

Bas-relief of white marble (doe or stag)

A fish carved on green schist .

A small figurine of massive gold

A small lion of massive gold .

Sarcophagus found near.

Bronze figures found at

Gezer, Inscriptions at

225, 226, 228, 229, 232,

379
381-3
384
38s
386

387
388

389
389
390
391
392
393
-417
430
430
431
431
432
432
432, 433
233, 334

398-

VIU

List of I Ihtsf rations.

Hajar el Asbah (Stone of Bohan) .....
Hamameh, Sculptured marble head from.

Ivory figure and scul[)tured marble fragment from

Hirsha, Birkeh at ....... .

I'AGK
lO 12

i88
189

Jaffa, Rock-cut tombs in the Necropolis .
Inscriptions from the Necropolis

Stamped amphora handles found in a cave south of

■ Various inscriptions found at .

Slab of the tomb of a Bishop of the Crusaders

Crusading inscriptions from ....

■ Carved stone in the wall of a house at

Jaliid, Rock tomb at ..... .

Stone door in situ at .... •

Jame' el Arba'in .......

Carved lintel at ... .

Jericho, Plain of, showing site of Hajar el Asbah

Roman inscription found near

Sculptured fragments of the GrKco-Roman period found near

Jerusalem. Base of column at the Ecce Homo Arch
Jorah, Greek inscriptions from ....

132

Kaber Bint Nuh. Plan and sections .....
K'bur Beni Israin. Section and doorway . ...

el Yahiid, near el Midieh . . .

Rock-hewn tombs at .... .

Khurbet Dabbeh, Greek inscription iiom ....

Deir es S'aideh, Lintels at

el Hahis, Inscribed rock tomb at ... .

el Kelkh, Inscribed baptismal font at .

Jeba", Reservoir at ...••■ ■

Niateh, Views and section of ancient wine or oil press at

Zakariyeh, Rock-hewn tomb at

el Kok'a, Mound of ...•••• ■

K'rein Sartaba .........

Kubib, Plan, sketch, and section of ancient sepulchre near

Roman inscriptions found at .... .

Kumran, Cemetery of ...-..■ •

33.

i37> 141— 7

148, 149

149—51

152

15s

• 158

304

■ 304

• 299

300

28, 29

38, 39

• 336

■ 378

• 455

• 279

• 374

j75> 376

. 163

221

. • 356

• 357

• 58

• 453

353—5

85, 86

Lydda, Details and bases of pillars of the Medieval Church .

Plan of the Church ........

Greek inscription on one of the twin columns

Fragments of Byzantine carving built in the wall of the Mosque

105-8

to face 104

107

108

List of Ilhtstrations.

I.ydda, Iron pick found in a sarcophagus at .

Carved stone, base of pillar, and ornamentation at

Minaret and ancient Church at .

Front and side view of the minaret

Bridge of Beibars at ..... .

Arabic inscription on the bridge ....

Sculptured lions on the bridge ....

Cornice over the inscription, and lions on the bridge at

The middle arch, masonry of ... .

■ Jewish masonry tomb at .... .

Inscribed ossuary at .

PACE

lOO
lOI

103

104

10, III

III

113

116
342

343- 344

Mejdel Yaba, Lintel with Greek inscription at .

el Midieh, Plan, views, sections, and mosaic of el Gherbawy at

Bronze figure from .....

Sketch of the N.W. angle of el Gherbawy

Mount Gerizim, Double peak on .... .
el Mughar, Greek inscription from .....
Mukhmas, Sculjnured stone from .....

340

362-70

,370

'371

326

193
283

Nablus, Capital with inscription in Mosque at '

Plan of Jame' en Naser

Section of Jame' en Naser .

Plan and elevation of Habs ed Dam

Plan and sections of the l)uilding over 'Ain Kariun

Sculptured stones at .

Greek inscription at .

Greek inscription at (seen in the i6th century)

Intaglio from ....

Crusading relic from .

Limestone vase from .

Tessera of Egyptian style from

Nahr Riibin, Plan and sketch of tombs near

View near ....

Neby Danian, Tomb cover at .

■ Milsa, Looking towards the north-west

Looking towards the north-east

— - Sculptured base of a pilaster in the north wall of

311

313

314

• 315

. 316

318

319

320

321

330

• 33'

61, 162

163

350

Ramleh, Details of the Mosque at ...... .

Sculptured marble Imtel in the Mosque . . . .

Carved tessera from ........

Plan showing the direction of places and roads leading from

119

120
122
I .o

List of I!histration$.

Sebaste (Samaria), Stone door at Neby Y

Details of funerary remains at

One of the columns at

ahva

Seilfln, Sarcophagus lid at

Rock-cut tombs at

lame' el Arba'in .

Carved lintel at .

Sijr'ah, View from 'ArtCif looking towards

PACE

334, 335
235
300
301
299
300
204

Taiyibeh, Roman milestones near 296

Tell el Kok'a 91

el Matlab, Architectural fragments from 17, 18, 19

Umni el 'Eumdan, Plan of Church at 82

Wine or oil press at .......... 83

Yalo. Plan and sketch of spring in Wady Kubbeh at ....... 92

Yebna, View, plans, sections, and details of Mediseval Church at . . 169 — 172, 179, 180
The bridge at 181

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES IN

PALESTINE.

CHAPTER I.
FROM JAFFA TO JERUSALEM.

Jnffii- — We landed at Jaffa on Monday, November 3rd, 1873, after a
pretty fair passage and three days' quarantine at Alexandria. There we
remained from the 3rd to the 6th, when we left for Jerusalem. I took
advantage of this short stay to gain some more knowledge of the city and
its surroundings, and a brief account of my observations is here appended.

Marble Bas-relief. — Some years before, on my first visit to Palestine,
I had noticed a large piece of a marble bas-relief, forming part of the flagstone
pavement in a house belonging to M. Damiany, French consular agent at
Ramleh. I took the earliest opportunity after my arrival of going to look at
the fragment that had attracted my attention, in order to examine it more
closely, and to get a good drawing of it made by M. Lecomte. This
bas-relief, like so much of the old stone-work used in the construction of the
houses at Jaffa, came from Ca^sarea, the ruins of which town have been, and
still are, worked by the inhabitants of Jaffa in the same way as a quarry.

Of this bas-relief, which is of fine white marble, there only remains a
fragment, measuring 20 inches by 15 inches. It represents a large tragic
mask, much mutilated and broken from the nose downwards. The head,
viewed from the front, is rather finely done, and may belong to a good period
of Grseco-Roman art. To judge by the dressing of the hair, which is wavy,
by the arrangement of the fillet which encircles it, and by the general
appearance of the physiognomy, this mask probably belonged to a female
head — perhaps a Gorgon's. The eyes are deeply sunken, and the mouth,
_ which is to a great extent wanting, was doubtless open, with the conventional
^ B

Arch(?olos:icaI Researches in Palestine.

grin of the classical scenic mask. A fragment of cable-moulding on the left
side of the head, and the top of a wing on the right, seem to point to its
having formed part of some decorative scheme.

Other details again would lead one to suppose that this decoration
was arranged with a view to being looked at from below, so that it is more
likely to have belonged to the upper frieze of some large architectural
monument than to have formed part of the ornamentation of a sarcophagus.
May not this be a fragment of the magnificent theatre or of the amphi-
theatre built at Csesarea by Herod ?

ANCIENT MASK FROM C.F.SAREA.

SECTION OF MASK.

We made a circuit round the town, carefully examining the wall of
circumvallation to detect traces of ancient work or material. I noticed,
especially on the north side, towards the sea, a considerable number of fine
blocks with bossages ; the natives assured me that these had been brought
from Caesarea and Acre.

— Here and there along the wall there are distinctly traceable old
foundations, now partly under water. I went in a boat along the southern
portion of the wall that separates the town from the sea. On the further
side of the projecting bastion, on which stand the light-house and the
legendary House of St. Peter, there stretches a regular harbour of slight
depth where the boats continually touch the bottom. This harbour is
surrounded by a belt of rocks, and goes by the name of Birket el Kainar,

From Jaffa to Jcrusaleni. 3

the " Pool of the Moon." All this part of the place, and the coast that
borders it, would well repay minute exploration— the beach is covered with
ruins apparently ancient.

• — ■ There is now living in Jaffa a certain Mussulman named 'Aly Sido,
a retired master mason. This man, now of an advanced age, directed all
the works that were set on foot at the beginning of the century (?) by the
legendary Abu Nabbut, Governor of Jaffa, the same that gave his name to
the pretty fountain, or Sebil Abu Nabbut, which is to be seen near his
tomb, some ten minutes' journey from the town as you go to Jerusalem.
It would be most interesting to gather from his mouth, on the spot, precise
information, in technical terms, of the extensive alterations that Jaffa under-
went at that period.

— A very intelligent young Arab living in Jaffa, by name Jibrail 'Akkawy,
told me of a handle of an amphora of terra-cotta, which had been found in the
gardens surrounding the town, " in a cave," and he showed me a rough copy
made by himself of the inscriptions on it. As far as I could judge from this
artless but well meaning reproduction, the inscription is in Greek, and probably
gives the name of the potter or of a magistrate. I shall endeavour to get a
look at the original or to purchase it, when I next visit Jaffa.*

— Two items of information from native sources : — To the north of the
town near the sea-shore, there exist, hidden under the sand, numbers of
"presses" built of masonry. Near the Nahr el 'Auja, to the north of Jaffa,
there is a Tell belonging to Ismail Agha, where numbers of " bronze
idols " were found ; one of them was bought by one Dimo.

The Jewish necropolis of Joppa. — On our departure from Jaffa on
November 6th, I desired to verify an important point which had long
engaged my attention, and was up to this time undetermined, namely, the
position of the burying-ground of ancient Joppa. I have now, I think,
settled it for certain.

With this view, instead of following the usual route, when we left the
city gates, our small caravan kept to the left, that is to say, to the north,
through the extensive gardens that close in Jaffa on every side. We soon
reached a small hamlet called Saknet Abu K'bir, where I enquired of some
fellahin. One of them took us a few yards further on into the middle of
some poorly tilled gardens, where I noticed that numerous excavations had
been newly made for building stone. The digging and removals had laid

See further, p. 148.

4 Archaological Researches in Palestine.

bare in several places numbers of sepulchral chambers hollowed out in the
calcareous tufa. Similar graves have been discovered, it appears, all the
way from the hamlet of Abu K'bir to the Jewish Agricultural College,
" Mikveh Israel," on the other side of the road, and as far as the present
Catholic cemetery. Other fellahin said, " between Saknet Abu ICbir and
Saknet eTAbid" on the road from Jaffa to Jerusalem.

The part of the burying-ground where we now were went by the name,
I was told, of Ardh Dhabi ta, or Jebel Dhabita, " the ground " or " mountain "
of Dhabita. The frequent mention of this name Dhabita struck me, for it
seems identical with that of the woman of Joppa, Tabitha, who was restored
to life by St. Peter. The Semitic meaning of this name is given in the actual
text of St. Luke (Acts ix, 36), AopK-a?, " a doe," and some commentators have
rightly enough seen in this the Aramaic NfT'lIO Tabitha, " female gazelle."*
The Arabic name Dhabita Ujudi , though preserving the Aramaic form, shows
the accuracy of this identification, for it is connected with the word ajoli
dhabia, which has exactly the same meaning in Arabic. Evidently the
memory of the resurrection of Tabitha helped to shape the name given by
local tradition to the burying-ground where that pious woman, though her
journey thither was on the first occasion postponed, must finally have found a
resting-place.f

This is doubtless the explanation of the legend whereby, even at the
beginning of the seventeenth century, the ruins of " Tabitha's house" were
pointed out, not far from Jaffa, on the way to Jerusalem. It was probably
some misunderstanding that led the worthy Ouaresmius to apply the traditional
name of the burying-ground to some ruin or other that was visible there at
that period,:!: and which he calls "the house" of Tabitha.

* In this connection I may draw attention to a curious legend in the Talmud, according to
which all the male slaves of the household of Gamaliel bore the name of Tabi, UD, and all the
female slaves that of T;?/;/^,?, snuu , (Levy, Naihebr. IVdrterb., II, //. 134, 538). It would
appear to follow that this name was especially given to slaves, and this would perhaps imply
servile origin in the Tabitha of the Scriptures. This holds good at any rate of the Greek
equivalent Boreas, which we find borne by a female slave and an hetaera (Pape, IFdr/erb. der
Gr. Eig., I, p. 319).

t During my stay at Jaffa in t88i, I remarked the existence of a great yearly festival in
honour of Dhabita on May 15th. All the inhabitants go in procession to the Sebil of Abu Nabbut,
singing a kind of hymn, the words of which I was not able to note. The whole population of
Jaffa, without distinction of creed, take part in the solemnity, and make it a pretext for all sorts of
festivities.

X Quaresmius, E/iic. Terr. S., II, 6 : " Non longe a ruinis Joppes, versus Jerusalem eundo
monstrantur fundamenta et residuum domus Tabithae."

From Jaffa to Jerusalem. 5

With the aid of a compass we took the bearings of the part of the
burying-ground where we stood, so as to find it again later on and carry out
some excavations and explorations. It is however easy to identify, as a large
garden bought by the Russians lies quite near it on the south.

The fellahin declared they had found in the graves we had just noted
lamps and vases of terra-cotta, and some stones with inscriptions on them, and
at my request one of them* went to look for a stone that he had put aside.
In a few minutes he did bring me a small marble titulus with a Greek inscrip-
tion of four lines and the characteristic seven-branched candlestick of Jewish
symbolism. I saw at a glance that it was the epitaph of a certain Hezekiah,
phrontistes of Alexandria. I hastened to acquire this precious specimen of
Helleno-Jewish funerary epigraphy,t which settled once for all the nature of
the burying-ground that I had just discovered, and gleefully dropped this first
small victim into my game bag, that is to say, into the khurdj that hung at
my saddle bow.

Ydzilr. — After this short but fruitful diverticuhini, we quitted this
archaeologists' hunting-ground, whither I promised myself to return, and
wended our way towards the picturesque fountain of Abii, Nabbfct, so as to
resume the usual route to Jerusalem, which we followed without noteworthy
incident to the little village of Ydzilr. Here I again deserted the high road to
go through the village, which lies to the left on slightly rising ground, and to
examine more closely an old building there — a church,^ or small castle flanked
by buttresses. The only information of any interest that I could gather there,
was about the name of the locality. A fellah, less shy than his companions,
was good enough to inform me that Ydziir was in the olden time called
Addlia,\ and that it was only later on that the town being taken by an
ancient king by main force, '^ bez zor," received in consequence the name of
Ydzur. Without attaching undue importance to this etymology, founded on
an attempt at a pun, I nevertheless thought well to note it. It is, moreover,

* Mohammed A'nany, the owner of a small karcm (a non-irrigated garden) in the neighbour-
hood.

t See on p. 133 a fac-simile and explanation of this inscription.

X At the end of the 15th century there used to be shown at Yaznr the remains of a fine
church, built in honour of St. Mary (^ Journal de Voyage de Louis de Rochechouart, p. 71). It is-
possible that these remains are those of the church in question ; and this church perhaps is
none other than the undiscoverable St. Mary of the Three Shades (trium umbra rum), which,
according to certain documents of the Crusades, belonged to the diocese of Lydda.

§ The origin of this name I do not see, but perhaps it should be connected with the
Arabic ddlia, "grape," "vine-stalk," which is akin to the Hebrew n'/T dalit.

6 Ai'clucological Researches in Palestine.

remarkable that in these parts, as far as the mountains,* local tradition often
ascribes to the same j^lace two names, one regarded as ancient, the other
modern. This peculiarity, which I was repeatedly struck with in my
earlier researches, deserves attention from anyone who may devote himself
to investigations into onomastic topography.

Gezei'. — I had no time to do anything at Ramleh, where we put up for
the night ; so that remains for another occasion. We set out at early morning
so as to be able to go by way of Tell el Jezery, or Tell el Jezer, the site of
ancient Gezer. I discovered this by researches on the spot nearly three years
before, after having fixed on it a priori on the map simply by theoretical and
historical considerations. We took a direct course for this "place, crossing
ground deeply fissured by the drought, in which our horses had the greatest
difficulty in making progress.

On reaching the summit of the Tell, we found a large house in course of
erection, and came across the sons of Mr. Bergheim, who were having it
built. They told us they had bought the whole hill and a certain portion of
land round it ; and I only hoped that this acquisition — which had been made
after the discovery I made public, and probably in consequence of it — might
facilitate for us the exploration of the site of the old Canaanite city.

The operations undertaken by MM. Bergheim have led to the discovery
of some worked flints, of which they showed me some specimens. These
seemed to me extremely curious. There was likewise discovered there
about the same time a very interesting little terra-cotta figure, of which we
made a photograph and a squeeze in plaster. My report, written in 1874,
contained a detailed description of it, which I reproduce here, as, for reasons
with which I am not acquainted, it was not published at the time :t " The
authenticity of this object cannot possibly be doubtful ; a mere glance suffices
to show the gulf that separates it from the specimens of the Shapira collec-
tion (I mean, of course, those that I have seen); to say nothing of the style,
the material alone, which is hard, sonorous, and compact, in nowise resembles
the hollow and badly baked pottery of the latter. This statuette represents
a miniature figure of a woman in semi relief, having on her head a sort of
diadem (in the shape of an embattled crown), with her two arms crossed

* This custom is not peculiar to tlie plains. I have noticed it in mountainous country
likewise. See, for instance, my remarks on Sha'fat (\'ol. I).

t The Quarterly Statement, 1874, p. 75, contains a note on this object by the late
Mr. Charles Tyrwhitt Drake.

From [affa to Jerusalc

in.

under her breasts, in an attitude habitual with the divinities of the Cypriot
Pantheon ; the attributes of her sex are represented with a naive exaggeration
which lends further support to this comparison. It may very well be that
we have here a sample of the current Canaanitish art applied to religious
needs, for it appears quite probable that this little figure represents a goddess
analogous in appearance and symbolic nature to those found in the environs
of Tyre and Sidon. It might perhaps be regarded as a representation of
the goddess Atergatis, or the goddess Astarte."* The engraving of it will
be given further on in Chapter V, § VIII.

In passing I gave a glance at the great birkeh, of which I made a plan
on my first visit here in March, 1871 (see the Appendix). This had now
been cleared out almost to the bottom.

Taking our leave of the new lords of Gezer, we crossed the whole length
of the Tell, and came down it in the direction of 'Ain Yardeh and Kubab.
As we went along I examined afresh the presses, the graves, and threshing-
floors cut out in the solid rock which had so impressed me on the
previous occasion. I believe I have succeeded in determining the character
and object of certain level spaces made in the rock, which then greatly puzzled
me — they are the sites of ancient houses. Thus, one sees here and there
four or five steps terminating in a quadrangular platform cut horizontally in
the sloping rock, and these cuttings are the tracks or footprints, so to speak,
of rude dwellings that are no longer existent. In other places it is perfectly-
easy to make out a vertical cutting deep into the rock, where the back part
of the dwellinof rested. It would be desirable, I think, to make careful
surveys of the most characteristic of these incisions and excisions, they might
throw much light on the construction of the primitive dwellings of Palestine.
Nothing but drawings and detailed plans would suffice to explain these curious
arrangements, and to give an exact notion of what a Canaanite city was like.
I meant to return and make these plans along with M. Lecomte.

Another observation that 'I made during this second and hurried visit to
the site of Gezer concerns the way in which the different quarters of Gezer
were arranged. In the middle of the Tell and at its highest point, which was
of considerable strategic importance, there certainly was built the fortified town,
the city properly so called. Around and about the Tell, at the foot of it, were
scattered small disconnected nuclei of houses, like satellites. The position of

* The passage in the Statement quoted in the Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 439, and mistakenly attributed
to me, ought in reality to be restored to Mr. C. T. Drake ; the engraving accompanying it was done
from his sketch, which conveys but an imperfect idea of the nature of the object.

8 Archceological Researches, in Palestine.

these is marked by the workings in the rock that I mentioned above. This
straggUng arrangement that I noticed at Gezer, but which Gezer is certainly
not the only place to exemplify, explains in a striking way, it seems to me,
that common expression in the Bible, "the town and its daughters." It is
probably these isolated groups, which nevertheless formed an integral part of
the mother-city, that are so ingeniously alluded to as its " daughters."

The fullest details concerning Gezer and the discoveries that 1 made
there a few months after will be found in Chapter V of the present volume.
Cf. also the Appendix I.

Abu Ghosh. — On leaving Kubab,* we quickened our speed so as to make
up for the time lost at Gezer. We merely halted a few moments at Kuryet
el 'Enab, or the village of Abu Ghosh, to visit the so-called Church of St.
Jeremias, of which a concession had been quite recently made to the French
Government. A few excavations, made since the concession, had partly
brought to light the crypt, which forms a regular subterranean church, and
contains a kind of vault with a spring full of water. We again noticed on the
stones of the upper part of the church those mason's markst that I had
observed a few years before. These establish beyond doubt the Latin
mediaeval origin of the building ; the W in particular is decisive in this
respect. Numbers of hewn blocks with bossages can be seen in the inner
walls, bearing a striking similarity to those used in the construction of the
church at Neby Shamwil, which also dates from the period of the Crusaders,
and of the ruined building at Kulonieh.

A fellah told me of an inscription he had found, and promised to bring it
to me at Jerusalem.;]:

In my conversation with the peasants of Abu Ghosh I noticed the rather
curious fact that Abu Ghosh and 'Amwas have almost identical populations,
so to speak. The inhabitants move from one village to the other according
to the time of year, and make the two places in turn their winter and summer
abode. This fact points to a close connection between the two localities that
dispute with one another the honour of representing the Emmaus of the
Gospel. §

* With regard to Bab el Wad, between Kubab and Abu Ghosh, where we did not stop,
I extract the following entry from an old note-book (1871, VI, p. lort): "near the cafe is
Khurhet Harsh." I consider it desirable to mention in passing the name of this locality, which
does not appear on the Map.

t See Vol. I, the special Masons' Afarks' Table.

X It proved to be merely a fragment of an ancient Arabic epitaph.

§ It also explains certain incidents that will concern us later on.

CHAPTER II.

FIRST EXCURSION TO JERICHO.

Ox Friday, November 28th, we left Jerusalem for Jericho, where I had
various points to settle. I availed myself of the presence of Lieut. Conder
and Mr. Drake, who were then camping at 'Ain es Sultan, to join their party
and make myself better acquainted with them. We spent five days in the
camp of these gentlemen, and met with the warmest welcome. On December
3rd we went back to Jerusalem.

To omit matters of inferior moment, there were two main objects that
led me to this short excursion in the neighbourhood of Jericho. The first
was to examine the site of the Hajar el Asbak, which for various reasons,
both etymological and topographical,'" I had for some time past proposed
to identify with the Stone of Bohan ; the second was a plan for excavating a
burying-ground near Kumran, mentioned as curious by MM. Rey and de
Saulcy. In this place the latter gentleman thought, mistakenly in my
opinion, that he detected the name and consequently the site also of
Gomorrah.

In view of my projected excavations I had taken with me two fellahin
from Selwan, who had worked for Captain Warren, and I procured from the
store-house of the Palestine Exploration Fund at Jerusalem a quantity of
tools, such as pickaxes, spades, levers and baskets. The natives of Jericho
are quite unreliable for this sort of work, as they themselves have recourse
to the fellahin of the mountain to till the ground for them, though this is done
in such a rudimentary way as to require no great exertion.

Our journey out was uneventful enough, except that, as we started some-
what late from Jerusalem, it was pitch dark when we got to the plain. Being
badly led by our two Selwaw'nes,t we wandered about some two hours among
the thorn thickets before we lit upon the encampment, which was hidden from
view by the Tell el 'Ain, at the foot of which it had been pitched.

* I have set forth the chief of these in the Revue Archeologique, August, 1870, p. 116 et seqq.
t Inhabitants of Selwan. Plural form of the ethnic Selivaiiy.

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Next day we left for Hajar el Asbah and Khurbet Kumran, accompanied
by Messrs. Conder and Drake. I had already explained to them the double
object I had in view.

Hajar el Asbah. — After crossing in turn a number of valleys, among
them Wad el Kelt, Wady Daber, and the small Wad el Asala, we reached the
territory {ardii) of Hajar el Asbah. This is a small plain stretching between
the base of the mountains and the Dead Sea as far as a jutting tongue of land
of conspicuous appearance, which one of our Bedouin guides called, I think,
Edh dh 'ncib B'ycir{}).

In the northern part of this plain well-nigh at the foot of the perpendi-
cular rock, lie four or five large masses of rock, doubtless fallen from the top
or sides of the mountain. One of these blocks, the most northerly of them,
almost cubical in shape, and measuring about 8 feet in height, was pointed
out to us as being the Hajar el Asbah ; it is cracked across the middle.

These small dimensions are in striking contrast with the importance
assigned to this mere mass of unhewn stone, with nothing striking in its
appearance, which has nevertheless given its name to the whole of a consider-
able region. Moreover, the shape of this stone by no means appeared to me
to justify the meaning that my theory has led me to assign to the Hebrew
Bohan, " thumb," and the Arabic Asbah (for Asbd), " finger."

ROCK NEAR THE HAJAR EL ASBAH.

On the other hand, I noticed close by, rising from the side of the
mountain, a solitary and conspicuous peak, with the appearance of which I
and my travelling companions were instantly struck. This portion of rock

First Excnrsio7t to Jericho.

stands out vertically against the sky, and has very much the appearance of a
closed fist with the thumb raised, as may be seen from the two scrupulously
exact drawings that M. Lecomte made at my request.

Nothing could be more natural than to give to this finger-shaped rock
the characteristic appellations mentioned above ; but unfortunately our guides
assured us that the real Hajar el Asbah was the fallen block we had just
seen. The curious peak they called by the name of Sa/isul H'ineid, or
Gozcrtici Sa/isicl H'nieid. It appears to me difficult to connect this name in
any way with the Biblical Eben Bohan, since it is evidently nothing but a

ROCK NEAR THE HAJAR EL ASBAH (STONE OF BOHAN).

circumstantial name given to the peak in consequence perhaps of some
accident that happened to a certain H'meid [Sahsill, "tumble").

What are we to conclude from these facts ? It is quite possible that the
Arabic translation of the Hebrew name, after being originally applied to the
peak which it would so well suit, has been transferred to one of the blocks that
have fallen from the mountain not far away. This conjecture is supported to
a certain extent by the fact that the name Asbah has been extended to the
whole of a district iardh), as I mentioned earlier. It would therefore not be
unreasonable to suppose that the name, after being spread abroad in this way,

c 2

Archceoloncal Researches in Pa/estvic.

may have returned and fixed itself to a block in this same district, and that
lying in the quarter where it is usual to enter the district, namely, the north.
We might also, in the last resort, make the shifting of the name date back to
the unknown period when the block was detached from the mountain. This
occurrence must have attracted attention enough at the time to attach to the
new arrival the ancient name which had been already extended to the whole

region.

I picked up from the Bedouin who accompanied us a variant on the
name of this stone : Hajar es Sobcli. Not only had the peak itself, which I
was inclined to identify with the Stone of Bohan, a most characteristic shape,
but even the shadow which it threw on the mountain- side at the time we

VIEW or THE I'LAIN OF JERICHO, SHOWING SITE OF HAJAR EL ASBAH.

passed by formed a curious outline which reminded one of the etymoloo-ical
meaning of the name.

To these various arguments I will add another that seems of some
weight in this important question of biblical topography. This peak marks
the precise point where the mountains that skirt the western coast of the
Dead Sea change their direction, or at least appear to do so to the spectator
who views their whole extent : it is at the end of the promontory, which as
you look from north to south closes the terrestrial horizon on that side,
apparently sinking sheer into the sea. Thus the point forms a natural
boundary, so that it would not be surprising to find it designated as one of the
landmarks on the line separating the territories of Benjamin and Judah.
This last consideration appeared to me so weighty, that I requested M.
Lecomte, when we got back to camp, to make a comprehensive sketch from

First Exclusion to [eric ho. 13

the summit of the Tell 'Ain es Sultdn, of the whole plain of Jericho and its
horizon of mountains, from the Tawahin es Sukkar to the Dead Sea.

The point which was the object of the observations is marked on the
horizon by a dotted vertical line.*

In the foreground to the left is seen one of the Tells of the plain of
Jericho, its surface disturbed by excavations ; on the right, in the extreme
background, are remains of ancient aqueducts, a Tell, and the ancient
road to Jerusalem, which descends obliquely down the mountain into the
plain.

It is to be noted that this peak only shows its outline in strong relief
when looked at from the north. When viewed from the south, as we saw it
later on our way back from Kumran, of which I shall speak shortly, it had
lost its first appearance, owing in part to the change in the light. To make
up for this it now represented, with a well-nigh deceptive fidelity that struck
us all, a colossal seated statue in the Egyptian style. Thus, under all
conditions this peak assumes shapes well adapted to attract attention, and this
property alone would mark it out for the function of frontier landmark, which
the Stone of Bohan in the Book of Joshua is represented as fulfilling.

This topographical problem is one of the most difficult that the Bible
presents, and I do not conceal the objections that may be and indeed have
been raised to the connection I have endeavoured to establish. The
discussion of the question would be too far out of my way, but I propose to
return to it elsewhere ; I may, however, answer at once two of the criticisms
passed on it. One is founded on an error of fact, and relates to a radical
difference said to exist between the name Asbah and the Arabic word Asbd,
"finger;" the latter word is correctly written with the sad, and not, as has
been alleged, with the sin. The other is based on the fact that Hajar el
Asbah is six miles south-west of 'Ain Hajleh, and as the Stone of Bohan was
situated between Beth Hoglah and the neighbourhood of Gilgal, the boundary,
on which it was a landmark, could not lie so far to the south. To this I reply
that, in my opinion, the mouth of the Jordan, at the time when the Book of
Joshua was written, must have been much more to the north, about as high
up as 'Ain Hajleh, the Dead Sea extending thus far and forming a marshy
lagoon, called in the Bible the Lashon, or "tongue" of the Dead Sea. The
western side of this lagoon must have followed pretty closely the line of the

* The Hajar el Asbah itself was not visible from where we were, but the position of it was
exactly taken by means of the compass by Lieut. Conder.

14 Arch(Eological Researches in Palestine.

Zor, and of the district called el Jcheiyir.'" A curious legend gathered by the
lo-umen Daniel, and certainly based on a sagacious examination of the ground,
appears to allude to this ancient state of affairs, which was perhaps more
apparent in his time than now : " Of old time the Sea of Sodom went right
up to the place of baptism, but it is now four versts distant from it."t

There is no need for me to insist on the importance and the results of
this primitive configuration of the ground, according to my restoration of it
from its present aspect. This restoration throws a flood of light on those
two verses of Joshua xv, 5, and xviii, 19, and does away with that sudden
and unaccountable bend which had to be made in the boundary line, following
the system hitherto universally adopted, from the present mouth of the Jordan
northwards to Beth Hoglah.

It also introduces into the problem of the Stone of Bohan a new element,
which I reserve for consideration later on. In the meanwhile I will leave
the question an open one.

Knmrdn. — After a short halt at the Hajar el Asbah we continued on our
way towards the south, in order to go and examine the site of the Khurbet
Kumran (pronounced Gumrmi), and especially the burying-ground noted at
this spot by MM. Rey and de Saulcy.

The ruins are insignificant in themselves, consisting of some dilapidated
walls of low stones and a small birkeh with steps leading to it. The ground
is strewn with numerous fragments of pottery of all descriptions.

If ever there existed there a town properly so called, it must have been
a very small one. The idea of identifying it, as M. Saulcy does, with
the Gomorrah of the Five Cities, is one which will not bear discussion from
the point of view of either toponymy or topography, as I have formerly

* M. de Saulcy (in the Atlas to his Voyage autour de la Mer Morte) marks in this
neighbourhood a "morass like that of the Sabhka of the south," and "another morass" as far up
as Hajleh. In iht Memoirs, Vol. Ill, p. 168, "a dead level of grey mud ... a muddy
tract ... a mile wide." I recognized here traces of the bottom of the ancient lagoon of
the Lastion.

t The sea is supposed to have fled at the sight of the Lord, and the Igumen quotes
Ps. cxiv, 5, a propos of this miraculous retreat.

In the time of the Hasmonceans this district of the Jordan was still a marsh (eXo^), as
appears from various testimonies of Josephus {^Ant. Jiid., xiii, i, 2, 5), and from the Book of
Maccabees (i, 9). I have treated this question as a whole on several occasions at the College
de Frame, and before the Acadcinie des Insirip/ions et Belles-Lcttres ; it will form the subject of a
special memoir, which I expect to publish shortly.

First Excursion to Jericho.

proved."" It is a great pity that the notion has quite lately been taken
seriously by capable writers.t

The most interesting feature of Kumran is the tombs, which, to the
number of a thousand or so, cover the main plateau and the adjacent mounds.

Judging merely by their outward appearance, you would take them to be
ordinary Arab tombs, composed of a small oblong tumulus, with its sides
straight and its ends rounded off, surrounded by a row of unhewn stones.

"Plan of Plateau

Plan of^a Tomb

Plan of a Tomb

■m

(•Ill-MIIIICMIII
lUllllltUKlt'lt

i;inMiii:iliini

.y^-

Position of Tombs N la"'!.

i^'

CEMETERY OF KUMRAN.

A. General plan of the burying-ground. (The straight line rnnning parallel to the tombs anJ alongside the birkeh represents
a ruined wall ; the general direction of the tombs is N. by 20° E.)

B. Plan of a tomb. (The arroTi- shows where the head lay.)

C. Cross section of the above tomb, from A to B.

D. Plan of a tomb after excavation.

E. Cross section of the above tomb from C to D.

with one of larger size standing upright at either end. They are clearly
distinguished, however, from the modern Mussulman graves by their orienta-
tion, the longer axis in every case pointing 7/ort/i and south, and not east and
west. This very unusual circumstance had already been noticed by the

* Gomorrah, Segor et les fillcs de Lot ; later {Revue Critique, September 7th, 1885) I have
suggested that the name .Gomorrah should perhaps be looked for in that of ]Vddy Gliamr, 'Ain
Ghamr, to the south of the Dead Sea.

t Trelawney Saunders, Alap of Western Palestine.

'i6 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.

Mussulman guides of M. Rey, who made the same remark as our men, that
these were tombs o'i Knffdr, that is to say unbeHevers, non-Mussulmans.

I made up my mind to have one of them opened. Our two men from
Selwan set to work before our eyes, and we attentively followed the progress
of this small excavation, which presented, I may remark, no difficulty what-
ever. After going down about a metre, our workmen came upon a layer of
bricks of unbaked clay, measuring 1 5f inches by 8 inches by 4I inches, and
resting on a sort of ledge formed in the soil itself. On removing these bricks
we found in the grave proper that they covered the half decayed bones of the
body that had been buried there. We managed to secure a fragment of a
jaw with some teeth still adhering to it, which will perhaps enable us to arrive
at some conclusions of an anthropological nature.

There was nothing else whatever to afford any indications. The head
was towards the south, the feet towards the north.

The accompanying sketches give an exact notion of the dimensions and
arrangement of the tomb that I opened up, as also of the general appearance
of this puzzling cemetery. The main plateau, which contains the greater
number of the tombs, is crossed from east to west by a sort of path, separ-
ating these tombs, which are arranged with considerable regularity into two
unequal groups.

It is hard to form an opinion as to the origin of these graves, chiefly on
account of their unusual orientation. They may very well have belonged to
some pagan Arab tribe of the period which the Mussulmen call Jdhiliyeh,
that is to say before the time of Mahomet. Indeed, if they had been Christian
tombs, they would probably have exhibited some characteristic mark or emblem
of a religious nature, for the use of unbaked bricks to cover and protect the
bodies, the considerable depth of the cavities, the regularity that pervades the
arrangement, and so on, show that these graves were constructed with a
certain amount of care and with evident respect for their intended occupants.

Rika {Ei'iha). — I took advantage of the Sabbath to take a short walk
to Riha and the neighbourhood, in company with M. Lecomte. We paid a
visit to the Mutesellhn of modern Jericho, who lives in the wretched Arab
Burj, in hope to get some information from him. I met with an inhabitant of
Riha who claimed to have discovered three stones with inscriptions on them a
few days before. These were probably nothing but fragments of sculpture,
such as we had already found at Tawahin es Sukkar, pieces of capitals or
friezes, on which the Arabs insisted on our finding inscriptions.

We next entered an enclosed ground belonging, we were told, to the

First Excursion to Jericho.

Russians, where there was accumulated a quantity of ancient hewn stones,
procured by excavation in the neighbouring Tells, for use in the construction
of a building projected by the Russians. We examined this building-yard, so
to call it, with the greatest care, and heard that it was chiefly supplied from
excavations made at Tell el Mat lab.

We noticed a number of architectural fragments, such as mouldings,
carvings, bases, capitals and shafts of columns, pieces of entablature or friezes,
a piece of the side of a sarcophagus with garlands, etc. Some of the stones
bore a cross. A little further on, in the garden, we noticed a huge block of
pink granite quite sunk into the ground. It would be highly desirable to
ascertain the exact origin of these fragments. They doubtless belong to
ancient buildings of some importance and of various periods, and might afford
the basis of a conjecture as to the site of ancient Jericho, or at any rate of

^/^7/,7^

6.67

o.!« ■

I 'I

'.|||\\

f '///,Cl. )li:,\

(>-;;!?a,;7/^|___^^;!^/2i;|

A. Fragment of stone coliimn (of ccirse limestone). Elevation (traces of dentils visilile on one side).

B. ,, „ „ „ Profile.

C. ,, ,, ,, ,, I'lan looking down .and section.

D. ,, ,, „ ,, I'lan looking uj) and section.

E. Stone corbel (of coarse limestone).

F. Protile of a stone cornice (of coarse limestone).

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

iTi^-'iiow;:|-itijiiv^i,f>PMn" ■ ;x

A. Elevation of an abacus (coarse limestone with pebljles), ornamented with Greek cross.

B. Perspective of the same.

C. Fragment of the side of a sarcophagus (lo cm. ihick, hard iinzzch limestone). The lower part of a garland
carved in relief.

A.N ARCH-STONE.

First Excursion to Jericho.

Jericho in the time of Herod. Unfortunately one cannot place unlimited
confidence in the assertions of the Arabs on this point. I must admit,

/ »i -- ^-'

,<v/,,), ';■>■,'■■ ,11,,,,,,,,.., -

~.^'^

V/>

A. CAPITAI. (OF COARSE MMESTONE).
- ■ O-io i-O.IO ^

Details of the Capital. — A. Plan of the part above ihe abacus.
B. Section on line m-m.

however, that they were almost unanimous in mentioning Tell el Matlab as
the chief source of these stones ; and this is in harmony with the tradition
of which I shall speak later on, which locates the site of ancient Jericho at

D 2

20 A7'ch(?olorical Researches in Palestine.

Tell el Matlab. M. Lecomte employed the next day in drawing the most
interesting of these fragments.

We came back to the camp by way of this Tell el Matlab, which had
thus been brought to our notice, and observed, as a matter of fact, traces of
tolerably recent excavations, and also found there some blocks of hewn stone
that had been recently got out.

Envii'0)is of Jericho. — In the afternoon I went out by myself for a short
excursion to the north of Riha. I took for my guide a fellah from el 'Azeriyeh
(Bethany), who was in the habit of coming to Riha for the field-work, and
knew the neighbourhood better perhaps than the inhabitants themselves, the
latter being in such a state of degradation that it is difficult to get from them
any information whatever,

I first visited the Khiirbet el Mufjir, to the north of \V. Nuei'ameh
( Wddy N'loc'nieh), not far from the aqueduct which crosses the valley, and
which I was told goes by the name oi Jisr Abit Ghabhish. The ruins of
Mufjir consist of small rounded heaps, extending over a considerable space
of ground. Some of them were excavated a few years before by Captain
Warren. These researches brought to light, among other things, a portion
of an apse with its convex side looking south. This may be the extremity
of the transept of a church with regular orientation. The same name
Khiirbet or Tau'dhin ("mills") el Mufjir is applied to some considerable ruins
lying about a quarter of an hour's journey farther west, at the end of an
aqueduct carried on nearly semicircular arches. I noticed not far away a
small wady, a lateral tributary of the Wady N'we'meh. My guide called it
Wady Mufjir, but afterwards some Bedouin of the neighbourhood assured me
there was no such name, and that this wady was called Seiirhdii. Others,
however, asserted that it was not a wady at all, but merely a place called
"the Zakkfuns of Seurhan " (z'giimat Seurhan), after a certain Seurhan who
had been killed there by the 'Adwan Bedouin.

Ed-Diik. — From here we directed our way towards 'Ai^i ed Diik, across
the region of the sanctuary " of the Imam'Aly," Ardh viakdtji el Imdm 'Aly.
This sanctuary is held in the greatest veneration in the country round about,
and is often called the Makdm for short, as being the sanctuary ^a;- excellence.
We shall soon hear of the curious legend that I picked up relating to this
Mussulman shrine. To get to the Makam, we went by way of the Tell el
Btireikeh {AbWaikeli).

The Makam in itself presents no striking features. I first noticed a
Mussulman tomb protected by a low dry stone wall, and surrounded by a

First Excitrsion to Jericho. 21

quantity of Implements and miscellaneous articles, left there by their owners
under the protection of the holiness of the place. A little further on are
erected two large shafts of columns, intended to mark the precise site of the
Makam. A rising ground of small extent that lies in front is full of pits dug
in the ground, and similarly entrusted to the protection of the Saint.

The Makam lies at the foot of mountains bearing the name, founded on
legend, as we shall shortly see, oi Mttedhdhen Eb'ldl, "the place where Eb'lal
summoned to prayer." This mountain commands all the country round, and
looks over the Wady N'we'meh. This point being of great strategical value,
we should perhaps locate here the fortress of DUk or Dagon, spoken of in
the Book of Maccabees and in Josephus. The same name is found again
in that of the spring called '^Ain ed Diik, not far away, and a little higher up
the wady I wa.s told — how truly I was not able to ascertain — that there were
traces of ruins on a plateau at the top.

This same name Dfik would also appear to have been anciently applied
to the mountain called from the time of the Crusaders the Mountain of the
Quarantania. This is indubitaby proved by an ancient Christian Arabic MS.,
still unpublished, which contains a very curious description of the Holy Places.
It is there expressly stated that the Mountain of the Quarantania is called
Jebel cd Diik (j^J-l^ J^^)) ^nd that this is the mountain from under which the
spring of Elisha issued. The real native name, therefore, of the mountain
christened by the Franks "the Mountain of the Quarantania" is Jcbel cd,
Diik, and hence it becomes very probable that this is in fact the mountain
spoken of in the Life of St. Cliariton (Boilandists, September 2Sth, pp. 6i8
and 622), under the mutilated name of Lukes Mountain, in the neighbourhood
of Jericho (Aovko, to be altered to AovKa). This fact has its importance,
proving as it does that the name Duk is earlier than the Arab conquest. The
author of the Life of St. Chariton explains the origin of the name in this
way : Elpidius, having established a religious foundation in this place, he
(Elpidius) was called Aou/ca [dux, "duke"), because he commanded the laura
like a kind of duke, repelling the attacks of the Jews who inhabited a place
(yoipiov) in the neighbourhood called NoepoV. We may believe that the
author is here playing upon a more ancient name, an old Hebrew or Aramaic
name of the spot, namely, that Dilk which we encounter in Jewish history.
I will remark, in passing, that the Noeron in question here is simply the
Naorath which the Ononiasticon speaks of as being a "Villula Judaeorum" five
miles from Jericho, and regards, rightly or wrongly, as identical with the
Naarah in the tribe of Ephraim. It is interesting to note that this name,

Archceological Researches in Pales fine.

now vanished from the native toponymy," was still in existence when the
Life of SL Chariton was compiled, and that the place had remained an im-
portant Jewish centre. It is the Near a of Josephus, whence an aqueduct
brought water to the plantations of Jericho, and the Naaran (p^i) of the
Talmud, a neighbour and an enemy of Jericho. It has been proposed to
locate it at Khurbet el 'Aujah, but the distance does not exactly agree. In
this latter respect, if the Jericho of the Ononiasticott be represented by the
Riha of to-day, the actual neighbourhood of 'Ain ed Duk would be preferable.

I continued to ascend the Wady N'we'meh, which grows wider just here,
keeping along the base of the hills that skirt the northern side of it. When
I had got up about as high as the springs of 'Ain ed Duk and 'Ain N'we'meh,
I went to see a tomb which was dug out in the rocky side of a hill, the
opening of which is visible from the bottom of the valley. It consists of a
chamber with 21 loculi at right angles to the walls [kokiin), and arranged in
two rows, one above the other.t

This number 21 (7 and 3) has a symbolical import in the arrangement
of tombs. I noticed there also two stone sarcophagi, one longer and wider
than the other. On the ground in the middle of a heap of chopped straw

■fc-'

LID OF A SARCOPHAGUS, FRAGMENT OF.

* It is met with again on the other side of Jordan, in the name of a homonymous locality, to
the north of Hesban : AW'aur (khilrbet, 'ain, and wady, .jili)-

t I did not make a plan of it, but Mr. Drake, whom I took there the next day, doubtless
did so.

First Excursion to Jericho. 23

{tibeii) there lay a fragment of the lid of a sarcophagus, carved and
ornamented with acroteria or fastigia, rounded at the corners and triangular
at the sides, along with some more fragments, plainly of sarcophagi and
lids. This chamber had been recently opened, my guide declared, by a
Bedawy who had found it convenient for a granary ; in fact, I noticed at
the door of the tomb the earth that had been removed from it, mixed with
bones, potsherds, and bits of glass, etc., and it did not appear to have lain
there long.

By the side of this tomb I noticed another of the same sort, almost
wholly filled up with earth. I came back next day and excavated it, but
without any results of interest. This second tomb struck me as having never
been entirely finished, but it must in any case have been rifled long before.
We found mingled with the earth in one of the corners of the chamber
some bones, apparently belonging to a body, an Arab's possibly, which had
been buried there at a later period.

Probably the presence of these tombs, and the discovery of these sarco-
phagi, accounts for the origin of a legend that my guide related to me.
Pointing from where we stood to the bottom of the valley, he said, " At the
back of the level country {fy kd kkaur) of Ahi Lahein, in the Wady
N'we'meh, not far from the spring, they say there is a great long stone with
an inscription. By the side of it is a leaden chest which contains another
chest all of gold, which again contains the body of a man." The same guide,
told me that the "old men of Riha" said that the site of ancient Jericho was
at Tell el Matlab.

He also mentioned a large upright rock {wdkef) called Chahmiln or
Chahvmm, which is like a solitary mountain, and is situated about two hours'
journey to the south of Hajar el Asbah. This must be \.\\& Jebel el Kakmiini
of the Map (to the S.W. near Neby Musa). Only the pronunciation as I
noted it would imply the spelling ^j^^i', c'rH-^' ''^'■h^*' '^han that used in the
Name Lists, *j..«^.

Legends of Joshua. — All Monday was taken up with the fruitless excava-
tion of the tomb last mentioned.

In the evening, in the course of conversation with one of the 'Abid
employed as guides by the Survey Party, I gathered from his lips a number
of traditions which appear worth relating in detail, as they refer confusedly
but still unequivocally to the name and history of Joshua. I attach a certain
value to these legends, though strangely modified indeed from the Bible
stories, because they were related to me by a simple-minded and rather shy

24 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

man, before an audience of Arabs who could check his assertions, and because
alterations they have undergone are too curious and too local not to be
original. I mean by this (and will presently give proof of it) that it would be
a mistake to regard them as recent adaptations of Christian traditions ; they
must belonor to an old mass of Arabic folk-lore which has for centuries been
current among the natives of the plain of Jericho.

I reproduce faithfully my Bedawy's story.

" Not far from Tell el Ifhlek"* (a locality that I shall have occasion to
speak of again later on, and which is situated something over a mile to the
east of Riha) "there are," said he, "some ruins with daivdres^ Here once
rose the ancient Jericho, 'the city of brass' [Medmet en nalids), surrounded
with seven walls of brass. The city was in the power of the kiiffdr (infidels),
and the Imam 'Aly, son of Abu Taleb (Imam of the makam described above.),
warred against them. 'Aly, mounted on his horse Meimun,;{: rode round the
city, and overthrew the walls by blowing on them {hen-ncfes) : the ramparts
fell of themselves, stone by stone."

It is superfluous to point out to the reader that this legend closely agrees
with the capture of Jericho by Joshua. Here is another detail showing con-
clusively the personality of Joshua hidden under that of the Imam 'Aly.

When he was doing battle with the kujfdr of the Town of Brass, the
day began to draw to a close, and the infidels were about to escape under
cover of the darkness, when the Imam 'Aly cried out and addressed the
sun, '" Erja'y, yd mtibdraka" Return, O Blessed One, and "' Inthiny, yd
mubdraka" Turn back, O Blessed One. Immediately, by God's grace, the
sun, which was in the west, and was about to disappear behind the mountain,
came back and stationed itself in the east, at the place of its rising. Since
this time the mountain above which the sun stood at the moment of the
miracle has been called Dhahrat eth Thiniyeh, literally, " the ridge of the
turning back." This mountain is the low chain which skirts the base of Mount
Ouarantania, above the Tawahin es Sukkar, and is crossed as one goes from
'Ain es Sultan to the Makam. It is covered with little heaps of stones

* Another Bedawy from among the "Abid said " a little to the north of the Tell."

t Plural form oi ddriseh, "traces of ancient things, remains."

X The horse Meimihi is celebrated in Mussulman legend. It was a winged horse, a kind of
Pegasus, and was brought to Adam by Ridhwan, the guardian angel of Paradise. It is a rather
striking coincidence that the name Ridhwan happens to be that given to Joshua in Arabo-
Samaritan tradition.

First Excursion to Jericho. 25

(shawdhed, " testimonia ") set up by the Mussulmans, who can descry thence,
directly to the south, the no less sacred Makdni of Neby Musa.

But to go on with our story. As soon as the Imam 'Aly saw the sun in
the east again, he called out to his servant Eb'lal,'" who happened at the
moment to be on the mountain now called Muedhdhen Eb'lal, to give the
signal {ediidn) for morning prayer, whence the mountain was afterwards
called the " Place of the Call to Prayer by Eb'lal. "t This miracle secured
the victory of the Imam 'Aly; he exterminated the unbelievers, whose
remains were eaten up by wasps {cfbfir), and destroyed the city root and
branch.

It is easy to distinguish in this native legend, though in a state of
quaint confusion and amalgamation, all the distinctive features of the Bible
narrative relating to the taking of Jericho and the final victory of Joshua over
the Amorites at the battle of Beth-horon. In consequence, however, of the
utter lack of historical perspective that characterises popular accounts, facts
and persons totally distinct and furthest apart in time, appear here all on the
same plan. A strong tendency is also visible to localize striking details by
connecting them with names of places involving attempts at etymology of the
most rudimentary kind. Still, I think it is not uninteresting to have gathered
these popular accounts at the spot where the events are represented in the
Bible as taking place, for they hand down a tradition, and whatever their
origin may be, are not the creations of yesterday, as I shall now proceed to
show.

As early as Mujir ed Din we find the capture of Jericho and the staying
of the sun fused into one episode. This writer says that the two-fold miracle
occurred on a Friday, and this feature is further developed by the apj^earance
in the Bedouin legend of the Muezzin Eb'lal. Mujir ed Din himself merely
borrows this account with its characteristic peculiarities from older Mussulman
writers.;};

But this is not all. A testimony which, being that of a Christian, is
quite independent, namely, that of the Russian Igumen (Abbot) Daniel, shows

* Bilal, the famous Muezzin, a slave of Abyssinian origin, who was the first among Mussul-
mans to be appointed to this office, and by Mahomet himself

t I am inclined to believe that this name Eb'lal {= Bilal) gave rise to that of a group of the
AblJ tribe called the Belalat.

\ P. 94 of the liulak Arabic text. The legend in question is again met with, for instance, in
the Tarikhi Montekheh. {Cf. d'Herbelot, Bibliothcqtie Orientate, s, \./osilwva.)

26 Archceolooical Researches in Palestine.

that the transference by legend of the miracle of Gabaon to the vicinity of
Jericho was already an accomplished fact in the 12th century. In the
description of Jericho, after speaking of the convent and church of St. Michael
that rose on the site of Gilgal to hallow the memory of the vision of Joshua, to
whom the Sar Saba of Jehovah appeared," he adds: "West of this place there
is a mountain^ called Gabaon, which is very large and high. It was over this
mountain that the sun stood still for half a day, so that Joshua, the son of
Nun, might triumph over his enemies when he fought against Og(!), King of
Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan. And when Joshua had completely
vanquished them, the sun set. "J Thus the localization of the legend at
Jericho, in the shape in which I found it, and with the complication of a new
confusion (the victory over the Amorites), was already current in this quarter.

Deviations and displacements of this sort in the story of Joshua are very
ancient ; we find in early times this tendency to group around Jericho the
places and deeds which stand out most prominently in the history of the
successor of Moses. Thus it is, for instance, that we find Procopius of Gaza,
Eusebius, and St. Jerome, saying that Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, which at a
later time are pointed out by the Samaritans at Sichevi, are in reality not far
from Gilgal, near Jericho. It looks as if this evolution were earlier than
the Christian authors I have just quoted, and as if they had borrowed
this singular theory from Jews, who held it perhaps out of hostility to
the Samaritans. The transference of the miracle from Gabaon may
belong to the same period, even if it was not determined by the same
motive. Moreover, Ebal, Gerizim, and Gabaon are not the only names
that have become connected with Jericho ; Hermon also has shared this
fate. The Ononmsticon, Antoninus, St. John of Damascus, and after them
a number of pilgrims, agree in locating the hill of Hermon near the Jordan,
not far from Jericho. Hence one sees that the Bedouin legend has
respectable and ancient precedents.

One detail of the Bedouin legend strikes me as having a very curious
Biblical character, namely the zuasps sent by God to complete the extermina-
tion of the infidels of Jericho. It vividly recalls a passage in the Wisdom of
Solomon (.xii, 8), where the writer, after mentioning the Canaanitish peoples
that lived in the land before the Israelites, and after alluding to their

* See further on my remarks on this tradition.

t He is speaking, as the sequel of the description shows, of the Mountain of the Quarantania.

I PalesttJie Pilgrims' Text Society s Tram., p. 32.

First Excursion lo /cric/to. 27

sanguinary rites, says, " And thou hast sent as scouts of thy army, wasps
{a-(f)rJKa<;) to destroy them."

This passage may be compared with Deuteronomy i, 44, where Jehovah
says that the Amorites, coming down from the mountains, jxirsued the dis-
obedient IsraeHtes as wasps do, or bees (D"'imn). Not only is this distinctly
local simile found alike in the Hebrew text and the Bedouin legend, but the
very words are identical, deborim = d'bilr, ( ,jjj) " wasps." We find the
same comparison used in speaking of the "Assyrian hornet" to which
Jehovah calls (Isaiah vii, 18), and of the strange nations that surround the
Psalmist like "bees" (Ps. cxvlii, 12). It may not be out of place to remark
in this connection that the Hebrew word dchcr, derived from the same root,
signifies " extermination," and especially denotes " pestilence," that scourge
which singles out armies for its prey. In Arabic the word dabra is par-
ticularly used of" the flight of a routed army." It is likely enough that these
various meanings of forms sprung from the same root are connected by a
bond ot metaphor of which we find a trace in our Bedouin legend.

In the morning of Tuesday, while M. Lecomte was engaged in making a
sketch of the plain of Jericho near Tell el 'Ain, we went with Lieut. Conder
to Tell el Ithleh, to which our attention had been attracted by the foregoing
account, but discovered nothing noteworthy. Lieut. Conder then left me in
order to examine the region of Tell el Mufjir. I now wanted to make a
careful examination of the neighbourhood of Tell el Ithleh, but as ill luck
would have it, my guide, a man from Riha, was so unintelligent that I could
get no information from him, and I had to abandon the idea. I keenly
regretted this when I got back to Jerusalem, for on reading the Guide of
Brother Lievin and Zschokke's monograph, I saw that the place could not be
far distant from the traditional site of Gilgal, even now called Tell el Jiljill.
The point would have been an important one to clear up, for it might have
established incidentally the exact site of the different Jerichos ; but I heard of
it too late. I immediately notified Lieut. Conder of the fact, and he wrote
back to say how exact the information was.

From Tell el Ithleh I proceeded towards Riha, as my guide declared he
had at his house there an inscribed stone found at Tell el Kos. It was
nothing but a mere piece of marble with some scratches on it caused by the
pickaxe.

I spent nearly an hour in examining stone by stone all the ruined
dwellings of the inhabitants of Jericho. This minute and laborious inspection
was without result. I only saw the spot whence a fragment of a fine Roman

E 2

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

monumental inscription, of which I had previously taken an impression," had
been taken away to Jerusalem about three years before.

It is a thick block of hard limestone measuring 13! inches by 14 inches,
containino- the ends of four lines enclosed in a cartouche with ears. In that
on the right, which is preserved, is represented a thunderbolt.

I sent a copy to Prof. Mommsen

for the Additamcnta to Vol. Ill of
the Coi-pus Inscr. Lai in. '\ He pro-
poses the following restoration : —

imp. ca;s. diui ANTO(N)
f. 1. aurclio u ERO AVG

leg f ECIT

sub com MODO COS.

The inscription belongs to the
period of the Emperor Lucius Verus.
Possibly the name of Marcus Aurelius,
with whom he was associated in the
Government, ought to be restored
by the side of the latter ; the two appear together on several milestones
discovered in Palestine. The thickness of the fragment shows it to have
belonged to a block of large size, with lines much longer than those supposed
by Prof. Mommsen in his restoration. In this way there would be plenty of
space for the double imperial protocol : Inipp. Caess. M. Aurclio Antonino et
L. Aiirelio Vero Angg., etc., or for some other such formulae, more or less
abridged.;|:

The inscription was dedicated under the consularis Commodus, whose
name is also to be met with, as my colleague M. Heron de Villefosse has
pointed out to me, on some Syrian coins, S5 probably by the Legion, or a

* April 22nd, 187 1, Note-book IV, p. 23^ : " Brought from Jericho by the Sheikh of Selwan."
I copied it and took an impression of it at his house, but he would not let me have it. I came
across it again afterwards, in 1881, at the Armenian convent in Jerusalem, and took a good
photograph of it. (See my Rapports stir niie mLsion en Palestine ct en Phenicie, 1884, p. 1 12.)

t Epliemer. Epigr., p. 618 : Corpus Inscr. Latin, III Suppl., No. 6645. Cf. P. von Rohden,
de Palaestina et Arabia, p. 42, No. 28.

:j; Cf. Waddington, Inscriptions grecques et latines de la Syrie, No. 1875.

g There is a dissertation on them by Borghesi {CEuvres, Vol. IV, p. 170). On the other
hand, De Vit (Onoinasticon, II, p. 391, verso, Commodus, IV) says that coins of this same legate
are in existence struck in Thrace, with the name of the gens, /i/lii/s Commodus.

First Excursion to JericJio.

detachment {Vexi/tatio) of the legio that was at that time in garrison at
Jericho. Unfortunately the name and number of this legion, which should be
on the third line, have disappeared. I thought for the moment, from the
thunderbolts carved in the auricles, that it might be the Twelfth Legion, the
Fulminata, but that is not much to go by ; besides, we know that this legion
was no longer in Syria in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, but in Cappadocia.

In any case, the Jericho fragment has a great historical importance, since
it teaches us the name of the legatus Augusti, pro preetore consularis, who
governed the province of Palestine between the years 161 and 169 of our
era. Lucius Verus died, as we know, in 169; on the other hand, we are
aware that, in 167, the government of Palestine was entrusted to Flavius
Boethus, who died shortly after reaching his post, as we are told by the
physician Galenus.*

Here follows a reproduction of another small fragment (of marble) with
Latin (probably Roman) characters. This likewise came from Jericho ; I got
it when I first stayed there.

It is difficult to make anything out of these remains, which only contain a
part of a line and a'few traces of another line underneath. The first mutilated
letter is more probably a O than an O. I am also at a loss how to divide the
words in the obscure group of letters : . . . que /(or i)ovent sit {per ?)...??

Deir el Kelt. — We spent the afternoon in going with Mr. Drake and
M. Lecomte to see the conv&nt oi Deir el Kelt. Lieut. Conder had a few
days before made a plan of this convent, which lies in the wildest part of the
wady of the same name. I went there chiefly to take a squeeze of a Greek
and Arabic Inscription which Lieut. Conder had discovered and copied. To
get there we had to go on foot along the aqueduct that traverses the Wad

* See von Rohden, op. cit., p. 43. He makes our Commodus the immediate predecessor of
Boethus; he might conceivably have been his successor (167-169).

30 Archceological Rcscavihcs in Palestine.

cl Kelt half way up the northern side of that deep ravine. The road was
rugged and the heat overpowering.

The convent appeared to me to present no interesting features. The
frescoes that adorn the interior of the church and the ruined chapel seem to
belong to various late periods. They are covered with inscriptions in cursive
character, some done with paint, some mgraffite.

The only detail that struck me about the church was that it could not be
regularly orientated, on account of the direction of the steep rock to which
it clings ; this serious breach of the princijDle of religious architecture had
been compensated for by putting in the window of the apse obliquely. The
sides of the window are at such angles with one another, and with the apse
itself, that the medial axis of the window points exactly to the east, so that a
ray of the rising sun can pass into the nave through the opening. The
requirements of symmetry have been sacrificed without hesitation to ritual
necessities.*

The inscription is built in over the entrance, which is a door quite in
Arab style; it is in two languages, Greek and Arabic, probably of late date.
The Greek portion is most incorrect in orthography and syntax, and is more-
over carved in slovenly fashion and difficult to decipher. I have given in the
Qiiarterly Statement (1874, pp. 89, 90) two provisional attempts at an inter-
pretation of it. A fresh squeeze has been recently taken of it by Father
Lagrange, and a transcription of it has been published by Father Germer-
Durand, with some good observations attached. The latter reads it on the
whole pretty much as I do, though he was unacquainted with my report. t
On the opposite page is a reproduction from my squeeze.

{Greek) " The monastery has been restored ... by the hand of Ibrahim
and his brothers. ..."

{Arabic) " This work Ibrahim and his brothers, the sons of Musa, of
Jifna,| have done. May God have mercy on them, as on him who shall read
it and say : Amen."

' Kv€K€VLa6TQ is for aveKaiviaS-q. The qualifying word before y.ovy} is

* We took, together with M. Lecomte, a detailed plan of this interesting architectural
anomaly, but unfortunately the original plate has been lost by the engraver. It was numbered
44, and showed, (i) a plan of the apse of the chapel, (2) a section of the bay with the easterly
orientation, (3) a picturesque view of the monastery.

t Revue Biblique, July, 1892, ]>. 442.

% A village lying to the north of Jerusalem, on the road to Nablus.

First Excursion to Jericho.

doubtful. Father Germer-Durand reads it 77ap(o{;o-a), "the present monastery,"
but one feels inclined to restore 7ra(Xata), "ancient," or even 7ra(cra), "the
whole." I can make no satisfactory meaning out of the last line. Father
Germer-Durand reads : e(T€t) B(acrtX6ia<r) X(/Dto-Toi;) TT{avTaKpa.Topo<;) vl/3
M(ap)T(toii) t{ov) rjyovu.i(yov) Vepaa-[i)ixov : " in the 950th year of the reign of
Almighty the 12th of March under the Igumen Gerasimus." This reading
however is mere guesswork, and seems to me more than doubtful.

GREEK ANf) ARABIC INSCRIl'TION ON THE CONVENT IN DF.IH EI, KELT.

^ A-veKeviaOrj rj na ? / (xo{vrj) Sta ^(e)tp69
'l/Bpay^Lfji (/cat) tov'^ aSeXcpov" d"Tov. E ?
)(TT ? pl/3 it [or yt) lttjvo v' ye pa

^^AJw>-S tO'l^t *J.i'_'' iXy^S. i_l.<jl^!' 'jki

I -J , , ►-< ♦^^ , • t^U 1 j^^^- , O % \jJi^ \ I— ■ »-c

I gathered from the lips of a Mussulman of Jerusalem a rather curious
legend about Wad el Kelt and its aqueducts, and although this man's story
lacks topographical precision, I think its interest warrants me in giving it here.

A Christian woman was having an aqueduct made in the Wad el Kelt to
irrigate the plain of Jericho. To her came Moses [Sidna Musa), who had a
similar intention. The Christian woman refused to help Moses by making
her aqueduct pass a certain way; it resulted in each defying the other to get
the work done first. Then Moses took his rod and marked with the tip of it
a channel on the ground, which the water at once filled, and flowed to Birket
Mtisa at the foot of Beit Jaber.

32 Arch(eological Researches in Palestine.

The most noteworthy thing about this legend is that it gives us what is
perhaps the real origin of the name Wad el Kelt. To "irrigate" the plain
(inin shdn yikallit) was in fact the object of the rival aqueduct builders. Now
the word yikallit is the second form of a verb kalat c:^-, which has no connec-
tion with irrigating ; it is the verb kalad aL- that has this meaning. The
substitution of / for d must therefore be the result of vulgar pronunciation, '■•
and as yikallit evidently stands for yikallid, so kelt must represent keld.
Consequently the name should properly be spelt :^ keld, and the real meaning
of zudd el Kelt {keld) is " valley of irrigation." This name is justified by the
presence of the three aqueducts which the valley contains, and which descend
into the plain. This leads us far away from the connection that used to be
set up between the name of this valley and that of the famous valley, or rather
brook, of Cherith, for it leaves the two names without even one letter in
common {^^^2 and aL-).

The same man told me that in the Wad el Kelt there was a spring,
of which he could not eive the name, but which was " bewitched with the
white man and the negro" {/narsinl'ald I- abed u "l-horr^). The water of the
spring at one time flows copiously, at another entirely disappears, so that it is
often quite impossible to drink at it. This alternation arises from a perpetual
combat between the black man and the white man ; when the negro gets the
upper hand the water rises, but when the white man wins, the water goes
down. Evidently this is a case of an intermittent spring. I do not know
whether the two springs noted there by the Survey present this peculiarity,
but perhaps there is a third still to be found in the wady.

'A in es Sultan. — On returning from Deir el Kelt, I took advantage of
the presence of my two workmen from Selwan to get them to lay bare part of
the small ruined edifice which surrounds the spring at Tell es Sultan called
" Elisha's spring." I plainly distinguished an apse with a niche. Is this
part of a small pagan temple dedicated, as was usual, to the god or goddess
of the spring, or merely of the church which, according to Theodosius, was
built over the spring itself ."* J

* For the interchdnge to / and d at the end of words, in vulgar Arabic, cf. the Arabic name
of Goliath, Jdliit, which becomes Jalud.

t Horr properly signifies " free man " and 'alu-d, " black slave.'' My translation is based on
further clues which my informant gave me.

X Itinera Bieiosolymitaiia, I, p. 68 : " Memoria sancti Helisaei ibi est, ubi fontem ilium
benedixit, et super ipsa memoria ecclesia asdificata est."

First Excursion to Jericho. 33

Unfortunately I had to stop the excavation in view of the remonstrances
of the inhabitants of Riha, who were afraid it would dry up the water of the
spring.

Sundries from my note-books. — The mountain above Beit Jaber to the
south of Wad el Kelt is called Hosob Madbak 'Ay id.'*

I made the following notes of the various ways in which the Abu
N'seir Bedouin pronounce the v and the ij^. This is a very important
consideration in fixing the exact form of a series of place-names of this
region.

^ chelb, "dog."
(_il^ cJietf, "shoulder."

( Jj galb, "heart."

ajl) ndga, " she-camel" (never «^r/rt).
jj^j rafij, "companion" (never rafig).
ci^Jjs gelt and jelt (in the name of Wad el Kelt).
j^^ kahkilr, "pile of heaped stones ;" is pronounced in the
plural jehdjir ( jJLi).

At Tell es Asmar,^ on the bank of the rivulet that issues from 'Ain es
Sultan, I noticed in the midst of a few other roughly hewn stones, a corner-
stone with bossage.

From Jericho to Jerusalem. — On the morning of Wednesday, December
3rd, we started on our way back to Jerusalem. Messrs. Conder and Drake
went with us, but the latter left us at Khan el Hathrilr, or Hathrurah, in
order to visit the ruins of Khan el Ahmar, two miles to the south-west.

Khan el Hathrur. — Shortly before arriving at the fortress of Khan el
Hathrur, which we thoroughly explored, I had examined the remains of a
milestone which stood upright on a quadrangular base to the left of the
road. It is called Dabbles el 'Abed, "the Negro's Club." M. de Saulcy

* On the Survey Alap the n.ime Aladbali 'Ayiad is applied merely to the little valley lying to
the south of this mountain,

t I do not find this name on the Map, but doubt its being Tell es Samarat.

34 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

mentions it, in his first journey, under the slightly different name ot Dabbih
esh Sheitdn, "the Devil's Club." It belongs, no doubt, to the Roman road
uniting Jerusalem and Jericho, which is the one still in use. Soon after
passing the Khan, I noticed on the right, built into the wall that carries the
road over a narrow ravine, a fragment of a shaft of a column of coarse
red-tinted limestone, which also appeared to me to belong to a milestone.
This fragment, which was only 15 inches in height, is 21^ inches in diameter
Now the Dabbus el 'Abed, which Lieut. Conder measured at my request on
his way back to Jericho, is 22 inches in diameter, which differs only by a
small fraction of an inch from the fragment I noted. This similarity in the
two diameters cannot be accidental, and is the more significant as there were
never any buildings at Khan el Hathrur, so far as one can judge, likely to
contain such a column. If this view be admitted, we shall have here one
more landmark fixed in this ancient Roman way. Unfortunately these two
mutilated milestones bear no signs of any number. Still they were not the
only ones, and I think that some more might be found on the road, perhaps
in good condition, which would throw much light on the position of Roman
Jericho. For this purpose it would be advisable to explore the bottom of the
Wad el Kelt for the whole distance where it Is parallel to the road, for the
milestones have doubtless rolled down into it, and it is not likely to have
occurred to anyone to get them out of the chasm and make use of them.

I ought to mention that Lieut. Conder did not share my views on this
point. He objected, to begin with, that the Interval between Dabbus el'Abed
and the other fragment of a column was considerably greater than a Roman
mile. This objection is easily met by saying that they are perhaps not
exactly /;/ situ and may have been displaced, especially the second one, which
has been utilised, as I have said, In building a sustaining wall to support the
road. The second and more weighty objection Is that the direction of the
modern road through Khan el Hathrur ceases to coincide with the Roman
way at a point lying to the west of Dabbus el 'Abed, and as far up as Tal'at
es Sumra. Here the Roman way, it is said, takes a turn to the south by
Khan el Ahmar, leaving the modern road, which it joins again at 'Arak Abn
V Kara. I am by no means persuaded of this. This southerly direction
may be ancient, but that does not preclude the antiquity of the section that
goes through Khan el Hathrur, where there are regular artificial cuttings
made In the solid rock, and not the work of yesterday. One might, it Is true,
attribute these, as well as the construction of this section of the road, to the
Crusaders, who held a strong post at Khan el Hathrur, and probably had a

First Excursion to Jericho.

hand in building the neighbouring fortress which commands the pass.*
Besides, if we agree with the " Memoirs" (III, 172) in accepting the opinion
generally received, that TaTat cd Duinin and Khan Hatlwiira with its fortress
represent the Makdomim of the Onomasticon and the Castellu^n Militum, we
are forced to admit that the Roman way passed through Khan el Hathrur, for
St. Jerome expressly says that the fort was erected to secure the safety of the
road from Jerusalem to Jericho.

Evidently, therefore, there is no reason why this portion of a column
should not have belonged to one of the milestones on this Roman road.

Arad Milestone. — Ten years later a curious discovery was made at this
very spot that has some bearing on this problem. It consisted of an Arab
milestone of the ist century a.h., which served to mark out the road from
Damascus to Jerusalem, a road that went through Jericho and Khan el
Hathrur. It bears an inscription of the Caliph 'Abd el Melik, who con-
structed the Kubbet es Sakhra at Jerusalem. This inscription is interesting
in more than one respect, it being the first of its kind, but as I have published
and explained it in a special memoir,t I will not revert to it here, only

* This is the Maledoim of the Templars (Radulph de Coggeshale, 234). The name shows
that in the time of the Crusades the place was identified with the Alaaleh Adummim of the Bible.
The identity of Khan el Hathrur and the Cisterna Rubea, or the Red Toiver (?) is another
question. Meanwhile we must not forget Khan el Ahmar, which is not far distant on the other
branch of the road, and by its name (the red khan) calls for consideration. This name, it is true,
is sometimes applied to Khan el Hathrur itself. The oldest instance I can find of the occurrence
of this latter name is in an ancient Slavonic text dating back at least to the 14th century, which
has been translated by Father Martinov. The unknown author says there is to be seen on the
road from Jerusalem to Jericho " a red mountain called Havrouta, where Cain killed his brother
Abel." Evidently this name, which appears to have greatly puzzled the translator, is nothing but
Hathrura, wrongly copied or wrongly read.

t Reaieil d' Archeologie Orientate, I, p. 201, plate XH. The inscription runs as follows: —

" has ordered the construction or repairing of this road, and the niat;ing up of the

milestones, 'Abd Allah "Abd el Melik, Prince of the Believers, God's mercy be upon him. Trom
Damascus to this milestone is one hundred and nine miles." According to subsequent informa-
tion kindly furnished me at my request by H.E. Hamdy Bey, the Director of the Imperial
Museum at Constantinople, the stone, which has been conveyed to that place, consists of a
quadrangular stele " of white marble," without a base, and measuring in its present condition (it
is broken at the top) 14 inches high by 16:^ inches long by 4! inches thick. To judge from the
very careful sketch, for which I am indebted to the kindness of Hamdy Bey, the hinder face is of
undressed stone, which would appear to show that this inscription was intended to be looked at
from the front only, and that it must have been built in.

Since then, another milestone of the same caliph has been discovered at Bab el Wad, on the
road between Jerusalem and Jaffa {Comptes-rendus de I'Acad. des Inscriptions, 1894, p. 27 ; Revue

F 2

6 ArchcBolozical Researches in Palestine.

remarking that 'Abd el Melik most certainly did nothing but follow and
restore the track of an ancient road that already existed. This would be
quite in accordance with Arab custom. Probably also the existence of ancient
milestones gave him the idea of having imitations of them made under his
own name. He imitated the milliaria as he did the coinage of the Rums.

Biblique, T894, p. 136). It is identical in tenour with the one that I have described, and marks
the eighth mile after starting from Ilya (Jerusalem). The Arab mile {miF) had borrowed its name
from the Roman mile, but, as I shall show elsewhere, it represented a different measure of
distance, which under the early caliphs was to the Roman measure as 5 is to 3 or thereabouts ;
it was in reality a measure of Persian origin, corresponding to the Pehlevi hathra or haser
(one-third of a parasang), and might be reckoned at about 2,466 metres. The length of the
Arab mile must have been modified under the Abbaside caliphs, at the time when the measurement
of the terrestrial degree was ordered by El Mamun.

CHAPTER III.

SECOND EXCURSION TO JERICHO.

I RETURNED to Jericlio on April 24th, 1874, wishing to make fresh investi-
gations there before the heat became too oppressive. We took the shortest
road there, and did not stop by the way. I did not have the camp pitched
at 'Ain es Sultan, as is usual, but on a small mound as you go into Riha
(Eriha) near the cemetery, and not far from the Burj.

6^/4^^;/.— Next morning we went to the supposed site of Gilgal. As
explained above, I had not had an opportunity of visiting the spot when I was
here before, but had merely been able to inform Lieut. Conder of its existence,
and indicate to him its whereabouts.

The place lies not far from Tell el ItJileh, and has been pointed out to
several travellers, as Zschokke and Brother Lievin, by the name oi Jiljuliek,
which answers closely, it must be admitted, to the Hebrew Gilgal.

The people of Riha assured us that this name {JiljiVich) was " only
used by the Franks," which distinctly lessens the value of this identification.

Moreover, the following instance shows how prudently one has to question
the fellahin, and how cautiously their statements have to be utilised. A short
time before the Archimandrite of the Russian Establishment at Jerusalem
asked to be shown Jiljdlieh, which he had heard of from me, and the peasants
took him to Tell el Mufjir, to which they gave the name required.

Notwithstanding this, I ventured on some small excavations in the
mounds of el Ithleh and Jiljulieh, but we did not get down very deep, and no
great results were obtained. In the former place were a quantity of potsherds,
mosaic cubes and bits of glass; in the second sand. It is certain that a
building of some importance existed on the former spot, to judge by the
abundance of the mosaics, but there is nothing in that to testify for or against
its identity with Gilgal, and the matter still seems to me extremely doubtful.

Next day we went to inspect again the Tawdhin cs Sukkar, and
particularly an aqueduct, where I noticed on the previous occasion that some
of the materials had an ancient appearance. I made my people turn over
all the blocks that were scattered about, and complete the demolition of a few

Archaological Researches in Palestine.

portions of this ruined aqueduct. This brought to light some sculptured
fragments, evidently belonging to important monuments of the Grseco-
Roman period.

4j / W^Vv^n-t-,

*Wm'

Second Excursion to Jericho.

'// ,. 'l^-^ti

ii- ^

i." ''J i' S'J :>• I

I am convinced that if all these ruined aqueducts that traverse the
plain of Jericho were to be demolished, a quantity of antique fragments would
be found to have been used in building them, some among them of great
value, and perhaps bearing inscriptions. The sacrifice would not be great,
and the archaeological interest would atone for the comparative vandalism of
the proceeding. A perfect mine of antiquities is there waiting to be worked,
and I commend it to the attention of future explorers.

40 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.

Tell el M'gket/er. — In the afternoon we went to the Tell el ATgheifer,
also called sometimes Tell el Kiirsy, "the Tell of the throne, or of the chair,"
which is regarded by some writers as the real Gilgal. It lies to the south-east
of Riha. The Russians were making excavations there just at this time to
get out building materials, and already a considerable number of stone blocks
had been taken out and placed, along with others from other sources, in a plot
of ground close to the Burj [cf. sttpra, p. i6). Several of the blocks were
still covered with fresco paintings in the Byzantine style. I was very desirous —
my motive will be shortly apparent — to have a correct drawing of the mountain
K'rein Sartaba (Kurn Surtabeh) taken from this spot, and while M. Lecomte
was Avorking at this, my two men made some slight excavations in the Tell
under my directions, but without success.

Legend of Imam 'Aly. — During this second stay at Jericho I took down
from the mouth of the Bedouin some fresh details about the Imam .'Aly, who,
as I have shown above, is merely a Mussulman travesty of the legendary
figure of Joshua. The boundary between the G/iaur es Seisabdn and
the Ghaur of Beisan was marked out by the Imam 'Aly with a sword-
stroke. At a single blow he clove through an enemy, a jiser (" bridge " or
" aqueduct ") on which he stood, and into the soil beneath. I could not get
them to point out the spot called yV^-rr that is indicated in the legend. Can
it be one of the many aqueducts that traverse the plain between the moun-
tain and the Jordan ? Or is it, on the contrary, one of the bridges that unite
or did unite the two banks of that river, such as the bridge of Damieh, built
by Beibars, opposite Sartaba, or that of el Mejame' (Mujamia')'" between
Beisan and the Lake of Tiberias ? I cannot tell. At any rate this legend
seems to indicate that the name Seisaban ought not to be confined to
the southern part of the eastern Ghaur, which lies opposite Jericho, but
ought to be extended to the northern part, as far as the region of Beisan at
least. According to another Bedouin legend that I noted on another occa-
sion, the blood shed by the Imam 'Aly flowed into the Ghaur es Seisaban,
which ever after was impure ground {nedjis), and that is why in order to pray
there one has to spread one's cloak on the ground and kneel on it.

The Imam 'Aly, who has also another Makam on the other side of the
Jordan, between the river and the town of Salt, is said to have waged a great

* According to an Arabic MS. chronicle in the Bibliotheque Nationale {Ancien fonds, No.
786), entitled Nuzhat en-nazerm, the bridge of el Mejame' was constructed by Sultan Barkuk
(784-801 A.H.); two Arabic verses have been preserved which allude to this construction.

Second Excursion to f eric ho. 41

war against Emir Abu 'Obeideh " before Mahomet."* It is to be noted that
the Bedouin who gave me this information, so quaint in its confusion,
pronounced the name Abii, 'Obiveidch. The intercalation of a vowel sound lo
between the b and the ei, is, as I have frequently observed, of common occur-
rence in the Bedouin dialect : thus one finds in it, bweino for beino, " between
him." The /; coming in contact with a vowel, and especially with one in a
diphthong, tends to disengage the semi-vowel of the same group of labials.
This fact has to be taken into account in the comparison of Hebrew and
Arabic place-names. For similar reasons it comes about that in Palestine the
name Band ( = David) is commonly pronounced Ddlmd, as if it were written
This is the reverse of the other, for the a coming next to the il and

.SJMJ-

making a hiatus has developed the aspirate which is virtually inherent in
itself Among the Turks this name has been treated in a different but still
analogous fashion : here the tI has developed its semi-vowel tc or v, producing
Ddvi^d.

The two workmen engaged on my little excavation at Tell el M'gheifer
were two worthy peasants from Beit Iksd, a village lying nearly four miles to
the north-west of Jerusalem, near Neby Shamwil, who had been for some
weeks past helping to repair the wretched lokanda at Jericho. While they
were digging they gave me a remarkable variant of the story of 'Aly-Joshua
and the staying of the sun. I reproduce it exactly, not knowing whether it
was of home growth, or, as is more probable, borrowed from the folk-lore of
the inhabitants of Jericho.

The Imam 'Aly had taken in some guests just when a great dearth
prevailed in the land, and having nothing to set before them, he sought out
a Jew and begged him to let him have a sd"^ or a measure of corn, offering in
return a measure of gold. The Jew would have none of the bargain, and said
he would only give him corn on the condition that he should have it back
again before sunset, and in default, the Imam 'Aly should deliver up his son
to him. The Imam 'Aly took the corn and made a meal for his guests. The
sun was about to set, and the Imam 'Aly was vainly seeking the means of
repaying the borrowed corn, when God said to the sun, " Turn back, O
Blessed One." Thus time was given him to pay back the measure of corn,
and he was not obliged to render up his child. One is tempted to find in this

* Abu 'Obeideh is an historical personage, one of the chief generals who won Eastern
Palestine for Islam. His tomb still exists east of the Jordan, as I have noted in my Reaieil
cTArch. Or. (I, p. 349).

t Cf. the Hebrew scah.

42 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

new complication of the myth of the Imam 'Aly, a confused echo of the story
of Elisha and the widow of the prophet (2 Kings, iv).

Beit Iksd — These men from Beit Iksa told me that their own village
also bore the name of Umni el 'Eld (1*!^ S). Here is another of those
double names that I have so often had occasion to notice in Arab toponymy.
The present inhabitants belong to the Beni Zeid, and come from the north ;
they took possession of Umm el 'Ela and then gave it its new name Beit
Iksa. This fact, till now unknown, and the other examples that I have found,
show how one ought to be on one's guard, in dealing with the topography of
Palestine, against the possible migration of place-names, which have been
transported along with a whole population from one spot to another. This
is a matter of the highest importance in exegesis, for the neglect of it
involves the risk either of running into serious error, or passing by the truth
unrecognized.

The ethnic of Beit Iksd is Keswdny, plural Kesdwneh {^\yJ,, aJj\*J'),
which seems to point to two conclusions : (i) that in Iksa (\^\) the initial i is
prosthetic, iksd for k sd, kesd (L^) ; (2) that there was probably in the old
name a final nunation, Beit Kesdn or Beit Keswdn (?).

The Krein Sartabd {Kiirn SUrtiibch). — My chief object in visiting
Jericho for the second time was to study on the spot an important question,
the extent of which I foresaw at my first visit, I mean that of the K'rein
Sartaba, and an interesting Biblical tradition which seems to me to connect
itself closely with this well-known mountain by the peculiar character for
holiness that it attributes to it.""

The traveller in the plain of Jericho on raising his eyes in a northerly
direction, will notice the distant horizon to be partly closed in by a long chain
of bluish mountains, from which rises a conical peak that goes by the name of
K'retn Sartabd.

This peak, which is visible a long way off, and seems to command all the
low-lying lands at its foot, attracts the eye by its bold projection, and arrests
attention by the singular exactness of its shape ; and Robinson is quite
correct in saying that its commanding summit, as seen from Jericho, looks
like a bastion of the western chain.

* Since my attempt to find a basis for the holy character that belongs to the K'rein Sartaba,
Lieut. Conder has proposed another theoiy, one that it does not concern me here to pronounce
upon, which likewise tends to assign to this mountain a part in religious history but of a totally
different description. He would make it the site of the altar of Ed of the Reubenites.

Second Excursion to Jericho. 43

The first part of the name Iv rein, a diminutive of Kitrn, " horn," is
frequently applied by the Arabs to prominent peaks. Doubtless the meaning
of the word is responsible for the curious error of Lynch, who says that
K'rein Sartaba means " the horn of the rhinoceros." The signification of
Sartabd is absolutely unknown, probably some ancient name should be looked
for in it. In the first place it is essential to make sure of the spelling. I
noted carefully the pronunciation of the Arabs round Jericho, and observed
that the first letter was a soft jt {sin\ and not a hard j {sad), as would appear
from the form adopted by Robinson, and followed hitherto by other travellers
and geographers.

The word should accordingly be written IjJ?^-, and not ^j-e. In this
corrected form may be easily recognized the name of the mountain mentioned
in the Talmud and written niia^D and «ntO"lD.*

This result at once enables us to settle one claim which has been
advanced for identifying the Sartaba with a Biblical spot. It was quite
natural to suppose that the Bible had not failed to mention the name of such
an important mountain, and starting with this idea, several writers thought
fit to identify Sartaba with the name of the town of Sartan, im!?, which the
Bible places in this Jordan region. This identification is inadmissible, being
merely based on an entirely incorrect derivation. The external similarity
that appears to exist between the two names vanishes when they are compared
letter by letter. The final nun might conceivably correspond to the h, but
neither the ^ nor the t can be assimilated, they are radically different in each
name.

Mr. Grove had already objected, and rightly so, to this identification, and
rather inclined to trace in the first syllable of Sartaba the Hebrew word Sur.

But the spelling of the name, which is certain, is equally opposed to this
explanation.

Does this mean that we must give up all hopes of ever finding the
mountain Sartaba mentioned in the Bible ? I think not ; and not only so,
but I believe I have found a trace of it in a passage of the greatest interest,
though the form is mythical rather than geographical. In Joshua v, 13-15,
we read of a strange occurrence which seems to bear on the consecration
of Gilgal. Here is a literal rendering : —

* I have not thought it necessary to reproduce here the well-known passage proving that
fire-signals were exchanged between the Mount of Olives and the Sartaba to announce the new
moon.

(J -1

44 Archccological Researches in Palestine.

"And Joshua was at Jericho: and he raised his eyes and saw; and
" behold there was a man standing before him, his drawn sword in his hand.
" Joshua walked towards him and said to him, ' Art thou for us or for our
" enemies ? ' He said to him : ' No ; for I am the Sar-saba of Jehovah, and
" now I am going to thee.' Joshua fell with his face to the earth and
" worshipped him, and said to him : ' What is it that my Master has to
" command his servant ? '

" And the Sar-saba of Jehovah said to Joshua : ' Take the shoes from off
" thy feet, for the place {inakom) on which thou standest is holy.' And
Joshua did so."

The Hebrew word Sar-saba signifies literally "the chief of the army,"
and is rendered in the Septuagint dpx'-o-TpdTTqyo'i ; the different versions of
the Old Testament render it as "the Captain of the Lord's Hosts."
Sartabd presents a striking likeness to Sar-saba, 'i^'Tl "lt\ The only difference
lies in the Hebrew isadi being replaced in the Talmudic and Arabic forms
by a tei or a fa. This substitution of / for .y in the same emphatic series is
one of the most frequent changes that attend the passage of words from
Hebrew to Aramaic : the best known case is that of Tyre, which answers
to Siir TJ.

Such a complete etymological coincidence cannot be accidental. It leads
us to inquire whether it does not reveal a close connection between the
mountain Sartaba and the appearance to Joshua.

In order to grasp fully the connection between the two, we should
remember how often mountains are associated with visions like that of Joshua.
The important part played by mountains in Semitic worship, and the sanctity
which the Hebrews themselves attached to them, are well known, so it is easy
to understand that they formed a sort of natural theatre for the manifestations
of divinity. I could quote numerous examples, but will content myself with
mentioning a few that present striking similarities to the occurrence before us.
First, the appearance of Jehovah to Moses in the burning bush on Mount
Sinai. Moses, seeing the supernatural flame, advances towards it as did
Joshua towards the man. Just as the Sar-saba tells Joshua, who comes
towards him, to take off his shoes, so Jehovah, after telling Moses to keep at
a distance, orders him, in precisely the same terms, to take his shoes from off
his feet, because of the holiness of the ground on which he treads. For the
sudden appearance of the vision one may compare, for instance, Zechariah i, 8,
and ii, 5. (i.) It is the same prophet that says (viii, 3), "the mountain of the
Lord of Sabaotk (plural form of Saba) is a holy mountain," and represents

Second Exntrsion to Jericho. 45

Him (xiv, 3) as issuing forth to fight, and '-standing with his feet on the
Mount of Olives."

One of the visions that offer the minutest resemblance to that of the Sar-
saba to Joshua is the appearance of the Destroying Angel to David. The
mise en scene of this episode is much more simple in the book of Samuel, but
the more detailed account given in Chronicles recalls in most unmistakable
fashion the description in Joshua ; on comparing the Vf^o Hebrew texts, the
identity will be seen to extend to the phraseology. Jehovah, having sent
his angel to strike (iinir) Jerusalem, had pity on the unfortunate city, and said
to the destroying angel {Maleak ham-niashhii), " Stay, it is enough." David
raised his eyes and saw the angel standing "between heaven and earth," and
his naked sword in his hand. He then threw himself with his face to the
ground. The angel, who was then above the threshing-floor of Oman the
Jebusite, sent word to David by Gad that he should go up and erect an altar
on the threshing-floor. It evidently follows from the passage that the angel
was over Mount Moriah.

These analogies would of themselves suffice to make us look, a p7dori,
for a mountain in the Joshua episode. Now can this mountain be anything
but the one which tells its own tale by its name to-day, namely, the " peak of
the Sar-saba ? "

The story of Joshua if analyzed in detail points to two things : (i), to
the height of the point where the apparition took place (Joshua lifted up his
eyes) ; (2), to a considerable space between the vision and the seer, since
Joshua said to the Sar-saba, " I am going towards thee," and the latter said
to him, " I am coming to thee." Moreover, the use of the word "TQi*, sta7is,
implies that the supernatural being was at an elevation and standing upright
on some support. The commanding position and strongly marked appearance
of the Sartaba, monarch of the plain, made it an admirable scene for calling
up the imposing figure of the Captain of the Hosts of Jehovah.

It may not be superfluous to remark that, apart from its probable
reputation for sanctity, this eminence had a real strategic value. Schultz has
already proposed to place there the fortress Alexandrian of Alexander
Jannseus and the considerable ruins found there by Zschokke have brought
him to share this opinion." Perhaps this function of the place enables us to

* Confirmed later on by the identification of Karawa, the neighbour of the Sartaba, and
the Coreae of Josephus. This last excellent suggestion, currently attributed to Gildemeister, is
due, in reality, to Sir Charles Warren {Underground Jeniuilem, p. 253).

46 Archceological RcscarcJies in Palestine.

explain the general sense of this puzzling episode, and especially the enigmatic
query of Joshua, " Art thou for us, or for our enemies ?"

The appearance of the angel-warrior of Jehovah descending on this
natural fortress, with which perhaps his own identity became merged, is
quite topic.

Again, who knows whether the drawn sword which gleamed in his hand,
as in that of the Destroying Angel of the Mount of Olives and Mount
Moriah, may not have something to do with the flame which, according to
the Talmud, broke forth at fixed seasons on these holy hills ? What, then,
are we to understand exactly by the Sar-saba ? The problem is of the
greatest difficulty, and belongs to the obscurest regions of the Hebrew religion.
I will not touch upon it here, further than to remark that God himself is
called in Daniel (viii, ii) Sar has-saba, which agrees closely with the
expression Jehovah Sabaoth. There is no doubt as to the actual meaning of
the expression, it means simply commander-in-chief, generalissimo. Thus,
for example, Omri was Sar Saba over all Israel. "

We find in Daniel that several nations have their sar, "guardian angel,
protector," as, for instance, Greece and Persia. The Sar of Israel is Michael
(x, 13,21 ; xii, i): "For Michael is your Chief {sarkem), the Great Chief,"
[has-sar hag-gadol).

Michael usually personifies the Divine power, particularly in its violent
manifestations and its militant shape.

Later traditions do not hesitate to identify Michael with the angel that
appeared to Joshua. Phocas sjoeaks of a bunas (Tell) opposite the Mount of
Temptation, with a church upon it marking the place where Joshua saw the
Archangel Michael. An anonymous account (Allatius 13) says that below
the monastery of St. Euthymus there was a monastery of the Virgin at the
spot where Joshua saw the angel.

The Igumen Daniel mentions a church at Gilgal to which had been
added a convent dedicated to St. Michael, because it occupied the very spot
where Joshua had his vision.

It will appear from these testimonies that tradition is in favour of the
vision of Joshua taking place during his stay at Gilgal. This conclusion

* The expression corresponded exactly to the Ser 'asker of the modern Mussuhnans
(Turks, Arabs, or Persians). It was a mistake, in my opinion, to make this word a hybrid
compound of the Persian scy, " head," and the Arabic 'asker, " soldiers." Ser 'asker is, historically
speaking, an Arabic term ; it is also, from the linguistic point of view, a Semitic word.

Second Excursion to Jericho.

seems warranted by the general tenour of the narrative, and by its position
in the chapter, for although the account begins with the words " at Jericho,"
this expression ought not to be taken literally, and means here, as in so
many other cases, merely the neighbourhood of Jericho.

The mountains are so grouped that the Sartaba is invisible after you
get west of Riha, being completely masked by the range in the foreground,
and especially by the eminence of 'Osh i^Ishshc) Ghurab, which forms the
eastern end of that range. Eastwards from Riha, however, it is visible from
every part of the plain.

K'REtN SARTABA.

The above view is taken from the Tell el M'ghetfer, one of the places
suggested as the site of Gilgal. M. Lecomte also took a sketch of it from
Tell el Ithleh near Jiljulieh.

I entertained a momentary idea that there might be some connection
between the much venerated makam of the Imam 'Aly Joshua and the holy
makdm where Joshua stood as he spoke to the angel ; but the Mussulman
sanctuary lies much too far to the west for the Sartaba to be visible from it.

Neby Mtisa. — On the following day, April 25th, we broke up our encamp-
ment and returned to Jerusalem by way of Neby Musa, which we visited in
passing. This much venerated sanctuary of the Mussulmans is in a state of
utter ruin. I give two views of it as it appears to a spectator looking north-
west and north-east respectively.

Unfortunately the central chambers were locked up, so we could not get
in. We were only able to examine the outer and subsidiary portions, and to
get a look through an open window at the so-called cenotaph of Moses. This
was covered with a fine piece of silken stuff with inscriptions embroidered on
it, and surrounded by small articles left there by pious pilgrims. The whole
appears to be of Arab construction. The only objects worth mentioning are ;
in the balustrade of the minaret a block of stone with the mediaeval slanting
tool-marks ; a recumbent fragment of a granite column which we saw in the
interior through one of the windows of the central building ; on the inside of

Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

the north wall a small sculptured base of a pilaster built in upside down, made
of polished red limestone, and decorated with vertical fluting displaying in

- ^.3j.||jW||

|;;ifj^

-*,-,

NEBY mOsA, looking TOWARDS THE NORTH-WEST.

•TWIiHI^RTnTlTma^-

r^ ....,

NEBY mCsA, looking TOWARDS THE NORTH-EAST.

very high relief an ornament consisting of leaves gracefully bent so as to form
a rose. This base recalls those of the door of the church at Gaza,

A few minutes walk further on there rises the kubbeh of a small wely,
called Kvbbet er ray, "the shepherd's cupola." Here, according to local
tradition, rests Sheikh Hasan, the " Shepherd of Moses."

Second Excursion to Jericho.

The whole place was well nigh deserted. A band of wandering Bedouin
came to seek shade, like ourselves, under the walls of Neby Musa, and made
there a frugal breakfast, washing it down with draughts of the fresh but
slighdy bituminous water afforded by some cisterns of no great depth that
had been dug near. This troop of Bedouin had started in search of stolen or
strayed horses. As they discussed with relish the hot rolls that they had
kneaded and cooked on the spot, I could not help thinking of Saul going out
to seek his father's lost asses. I do not know if the Bedouin found at the
Makam some revelation that put them on the track of the missing animals,
but at all events they fraternised with us in the most amicable manner.

The memory of Moses is still green among all the people hereabouts.
At every turn I heard the Arabs swearing iva-Iiidt ibcn 'Aiiirdn, " by the life
of the son of 'Amran."

Scale -jSj.

I questioned several of them with a view to ascertain the starting point
of the legend which locates the tomb of Moses on this side the Jordan,
and in so doing flatly contradicts the Biblical tradition. They answered that
when the angels came to tell Moses that his last hour was at hand, he was on
the east side of the Jordan, and fled from 'ain es/i shark in order to escape
the fatal moment, as far as the place now called Neby Miisa. Here he found
some angels engaged in digging a grave, which he was induced to enter by a
trick like that to which his brother Aaron had i)reviously succumbed.* " For

* .'Vccording to tliis curious legend, taken from Mussulman writers, the Angel Gabriel tells
Moses and Aaron to follow him. He takes them to Mount Hor (where the Makam of Aaron is
shown to this day). There they enter into a cavern and see a bed (a funeral bed, a sarcophagus)
made of gold richly chased, with the following inscription in Hebrew : " This bed is for him
whom it has been made to fit." Moses first lies down in it, but the couch is too small. Aaron

50 Ai'clu^ological Researches in Palestine.

whom is the grave ?" he asked. " For a man of your size," answered the
divine gravediggers. Moses got into the grave to try it. " True," he said,
" it is the right size." But when he essayed to get out, they said to him, " It
is for thee. Thy last hour is come." Then the Angel of Death placed to
his nostrils an apple of paradise, and Moses gave up the ghost.

Before falling into the trap, he had said to God, on arriving at a dry and
desert place, " Here is nothing to drink, nor to make a fire with for cooking."
God answered him, "Thy water shall come from thy wells, and thy fire from
thy stones " {nioietak min cUidrak on ndrak min elijdrak). Such is the
origin of the cisterns that have been dug near the sanctuary, and of the
combustible schistous rock that abounds in the vicinity, an extremely interest-
ing one from the geologist's point of view.

Moses Rod. — In the valleys round here and as far as the neighbourhood
of Jerusalem, one meets with a sort of insect like a centipede(?) ; my ignorance
of natural history prevents me from giving an exacter description. I mention

^^|Si|S'l?«P»

..-.^'-

. k

INSECT CALLED 'As'iyef MAsa ("Moses' rod").

it here solely on account of its name. It is called 'Asdyei Milsa, " Moses'
rod.' The creature is quite harmless. It looks like a long worm of a
blackish colour, and is furnished with a quantity of minute legs, by means

tries it in his turn, and it is found to fit him exactly. Immediately comes the Angel of Death and
takes ])ossession of his soul. The Israelites, not seeing Aaron reappear, forthwith accuse Moses
of having killed his brother. (This last feature appears as early as the Talmudic legends.)

I have shown in my memoir on Horns et St. Georges (p. 31) that this quaint story with its
preconcerted trap is modelled on an Egyptian legend related by the author of the Treatise of Isis
and Osiris. Typhon, wishing to be rid of his brother Osiris, takes his measure by stealth and
causes a case to be made (a mummy case) of elegant workmanship. Then he has the case
brought in at a feast, and says it shall belong to that one of the guests who shall manage to lie
down in it. All make the attempt, but in vain. Osiris in his turn gets in, and finds that it just fits
him. Immediately Typhon and his accomplices put on the lid, nail it down and seal it. This is
the starting point of the well-known adventures of tlie chest,, it being thrown into the Nile, the
searches of Tsi.s, and po on.

Sccoitcf Exclusion to Jericho. 5 i

of which it moves, keeping perfectly stiff and straight. To look at it, you
would think it was a small piece of animated stick endowed with powers of
locomotion. If you touch it, it immediately coils up. This mode of progres-
sion and this strange appearance have made the little snake-like creature
popular with the Arabs. The legendary name they have attached to it is an
allusion to the miracle of the rod that turned into a serpent at the meeting of
Jehovah and Moses in the burning bush, a wonder that Aaron also worked
before Pharaoh.

Arab Traditions. — It has been long supposed that Neby Miisa must have
taken the place of an ancient Christian monastery. This is quite possible,
and indeed the external appearance of the mosque and its subsidiary buildings
inclines one to this idea, as may be seen from M. Lecomte's drawings of
which engravings are given above.

At all events Mujir ed Din'"" affords us some definite details concerning
the history of the Mussulman sanctuary. He begins by mentioning the
doubts that had been raised as to the authenticity of the tomb, adding that
it was located in this spot by general opinion. He attributes the building of
the cupola to Beibars, who was supposed to have made it on returning from
his pilgrimage to Mecca, when he visited Jerusalem in 668 (a.ii.) and
destroyed the monastery of Mar Saba. Later additions were made to the
mosque, both inside and out, by divers pious persons. The southern side
was enlarged between 875 and 885, the minaret was built after 880. Mujir
ed Din mentions the pilgrimage that is made to the sanctuary each year after
winter is over, and speaks of fantastic visions seen at the tomb, and other
prodigies designed to show that this is the veritable resting-place of "him
that talked with God " {Kelim Allah).

The ancient Mussulman traditions, or hawddith, declare that the tomb of
Moses is in a place called El Kethib cl Ahniar, " the Mound of the Red
Sand." Mahomet passed by there and prayed on the occasion of his nocturnal
ascent (isrd). The hadith quoted to me by the Jerusalem Mussulmans
runs thus :

"I passed by my brother Moses, who sleeps at El Kethib el Ahmar." There,
they told me, is the real tomb. It was only in later times that, on the
authority of a sheikh, it was begun to be shown at Neby Mtisa. Mujir ed

i'p- 93, 94 of thu Ijulak Arabic text.

H 2

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Din (p. 93 of the Arabic text) knew this tnidition, and quotes it. It would
be interesting to determine the spot really alluded to.

Bethany. — After our short sojourn at Neby Musa we resumed our
journey to Jerusalem by the pilgrims' road. As we passed through the
village of el 'Azeriyeh, the traditional Bethany, I remarked a fine sculptured
fragment of the period of the Crusades, built into the wall of a house. It
consisted of some fine scroll-work, with a bull's head in the right-hand
corner, the facing on the left showing distinct signs of the mediaeval slanting
tool marks.

SCULPTURED STONE BUILT INTO A WALL AT BETHANY.

The inhabitants told us that the Franks gave their village the name of
Beit 'Ania. I noted the form of the name, though the account of its origin
involves it in suspicion, because the presence of the 'ain'^ is somewhat
difficult to explain,,

* I have, moreover, found this name spelt thus, [.\j,s^ L:i-^.o (sic), in an Arabic Christian
unedited manuscript of the 13th century. The author also speaks of Bethphage in the form
^=^U Li-oj, as beitig a Karieh adjacent to the Mount of Olives, and in ruins at that period.
Half a mile away, adds the anonymous author, is a large church built on the site of the olive
tree from which branches were torn on the day when Jesus rode on the she-ass ; and every
year at the Feast of Palms the inhabitants come to gather branches, and go in solemn procession
with them to the sanctuary of Constantine {sic).

Second Excursion to Jericho. 53

A f(j\v miiiLiLus before arriving at el 'Azeriyeh, and to the east (north-
east ?) of the village, there is seen a rocky plateau covered with sepulchral
and other excavations, consisting of cisterns, wine-presses, foundations of
by-gone houses, and so on, leading one to suppose that an inhabited place of
some importance formerly existed there. I was quite unable to ascertain
whether there was any particular name for the place, and especially whether
it was called Khiirbeh. At the southern extremity, however, of this plateau
local tradition points out a piece of rock, half sunk in the ground, and gives
it the name of "The Ass of Lazarus," saying that this animal was turned
to stone after Jesus had ridden on it. Ought we to look in this direction for
the disputed site of Bethphage .■*''■

* Cf. my paper in the Kcvuc Animlogiquc (Uecembcr, 1S77: La Pierre de Bethphage,
fresqiies ct inscriptwns des Croises).

CHAPTER IV.

TOUR FROM JERUSALEM TO JAFFA AND THE COUNTRY OF

SAMSON.

After the annoyance of a false start on the day before, caused by a
lack of animals at the last moment, we left Jerusalem finally on the morning
of Wednesday, June 3rd, 1874. Our tour was to cover seventeen days, and
comprise researches into a number of questions which will, in turn, be laid
before the reader, in addition to the unexpected, which always has to be
reckoned with, and did not fail, as will be seen, to make itself felt on this
occasion.

Our outfit was of the simplest. An Arab tent, with ten ropes, for
M. Lecomte and myself, two trunks, two microscopical camp-beds, a liliputian
table with two folding-chairs to match, an old flat chest graced with the
pompous name of canteen, and containing a jumble of provisions, cooking
utensils, and miscellaneous aids to camping out, were all we could boast of
The whole made an easy load for two mules, one of which served in addition
as a mount to my servant Ahmed. This fellow, a peasant from Lifta, was
the sole representative of the numerous following that is wont to swarm
round the Frank when he wishes to try nomad life in Palestine. Each of us
had, besides, on his horse, a pair of those very convenient Arab khurjs ;
these used to contain my whole equipment when I first stayed in Syria, and
made tours ; my present enterprises, compared with these, seemed attended
with Asiatic splendour. For instance, we rode on two excellent saddles,
which we owed to the liberality of the Socidtd de Gdographie at Paris ; these
were of the greatest service to us during this Palestine mission.

I took as guide a good friend of mine, an old fellah from Abu Ghosh,
one Ibrahim Ahmed, who was more or less of a sheikh when he was at home,
and was perfectly acquainted with part of the region that I purposed to
traverse. I had already gathered from him a store of interesting information,
and enlarged it as we went along. This will be incorporated with my

Tour from Jernsaleui to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 55

narrative in due course. In particular, it was from him that I first heard of
the existence of the Gezer inscription. The discovery of this, which took
place during this tour, is, as will be seen, of very great importance in Biblical
epigraphy and topography.

Our first halting-place was the village of our guide, Kariet el 'Enab, or
Kariet Abu Ghosh, where we were to pass the night. We did not, however,
take the high road to Joppa to reach this, but followed from the outset the
old road which makes an arc towards the north, with the new road as the
chord of it.

The Tomb of the Beni Heidi. — When we got opposite the wely of Sheikh
Bedcr, I noticed on the left, between the old road which we were following*
and the new one, a number of squared blocks of stone, evidently disposed
in rows, and seeming to form a rectangular oblong with its greater size 15 m.
long. The whole group is called "the Tomb," or " Tombs of the Beni Hel^l"
{Kaber or ICbftr Beni Heidi). Its size and appearance remind me somewhat
of the famous K'bur el 'Amal'ka or K'bur Beni Israin ("the Tombs of the
Amalekites," or "of the Israelites") which are near el Hizmeh, to the north
of Jerusalem. Its name likewise recalls these. This name, Beni Heidi,
assumes in local tradition an aspect rather legendary than historic, and
appears to have reference to certain primitive populations of Palestine. As
early as the geographical treatise of Esthori ha-Parchi, we find: " East of
these districts" ("the Hauran ") "you find the mountain chain of Jebel bene
Hellel, called by the grammarians /^(^^Z bene Israil."\ Thus the tombs of Beni
Helal are mentioned together with those of Beni Israil at Hizmeh in this
connection also. Similarly the name Helal is most closely associated in local
tradition with that of the mysterious Fenish, whom I shall speak of shortly :
Heidi el Fcnish. There may be interesting excavations to be made in
this spot.j

El Fcnish. — We soon left this behind, and as we went along my
o-uide told me that the realm of that mysterious personage who passed

* This is bordered with large stones, and is in part hewn in the rock. Not far away to the
south is the wely of Sheikh Yas'in.

t Itinerary of Benjauiin of Tudela, II, 410.

% It is not noticed, by name at any rate, in the Map and the Memoirs. Perhaps it should
he connected with the Kabr el Helaly (Map, 15 Pr, Name Lists: the grave of the man of the
Beni Helal Arabs). Cf. also some curious details as to the Beni Helal of Syria, gathered by
poor Drake at Ma'lfll and Nazareth {Quarterly Statement, 1873, p. 58), and a paper by P. J.
Baldensperger, Esq., //'., 1894, p. 277.

56 Archaological Researches in Palestine.

under the name of Fenish or Finsh''' extended as far as Beit 'Ur (Beth-
horon).

Lnlieh, Kcfirch. — He likewise informed me that the ancient name of Yalo
(Ajalon) was Liilieh, and according to others Liiio ; that the ridge of the
south of Kastal was called Hardsh {j:.\^), that the fellahin pronounce the
name of the locality Keftre/i, with a ^, and the townsfolk {cl mcdeniyeh) with a
•;.t If this last detail is correct, which I do not vouch for, it is most
important, because it allows us to follow Robinson without hesitation in his
proposed identification of this now ruined village and the Chephirah of the
Bible, one of the four Gibeonite cities. This identification was open to the
criticism that it involved the rare, not to say impossible, substitution of an
Arabic j for the Hebrew 2, for the name of this place, admitting the form
iLjui which M. Guerin claimed to have found.

Clay Beds. — After having deviated a little to the right and the left, we
took to the high road again at Kastal. Quite near this to the north is a bed
of clay loam, or what passes for such, greatly esteemed by the potters and
the makers of pipes {ghaldin) at Jerusalem. The spot is called Matianet
el Kastal, matianet, a place-name derived from tin, "clay." I gazed with
some interest on this "potter's field," thinking that perhaps much of the
famous Moabite ware which was making such a stir at the time had been
fashioned from this clay.

Slmfeh. — We visited in passing a cone-shaped hill lying to the right
of the road, a little before Abu Ghosh, with the significant name of Slififeh,
derived apparently from the extensive view (i_Jli) 1— i^Aj) obtained from its
summit.;}: I remarked there a cavern excavated in the rock.

* This fabulous personage plays a considerable part in the rustic legends of the Judrcan
peasants. His name is connected, among other places, with Beit Jibrin (Eleutheropolis). My
special note, communicated to the Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in 187 1, was the
first attempt to show that the name and the memory of the Philistines might have been preserved
in this name Feiusli (i;LJJ), with a phonetic change prevalent in the speech of the fellahin, that
of / to )i. Another instance of this change is the word feneseli, meaning the large piece of silver
which the fellah women wear on their necks, which stands iox feleseh, " piece of money."

t It is well known that the v is pronounced by many fellahin like cJi 'ind the cJ like ch,
so that no error is possible in transcribing these two varieties of K, which are essentially different,
provided you are in a position and will take the precaution to ascertain first of all the phonetic
customs of the peasants you are questioning. It is the Beni Zeid, said Ibrahim Ahmed, that
pronounce the cJ ^s ch.

\ CJ. in the Talmud, naiL" Shufah, "prominence."

Tour from Jcrusalcni to Jajja and the Country of Samson. 57

1/ibdlah. — From here we went on to Kh. Ik'balah,'" a mediaeval ruin too
well known to detain us. Some of the stones display masons' marks and
letters. It was pointed out to us this time as Heidi el FemsJi, rather to my
astonishment, as some years before I had been shown a totally different place,
between Kastal and Soba, going by the same name.t

Kcbbdrah. — As we proceeded to Abu Ghosh, we came across a place
called el Kebbdrah, and took from the door of a tomb hollowed out in the rock
the following bearings : Soba, 169°, Abu Ghosh 318° (?).

The Wdd ed Dileb passes below it.

Abii Ghosh. — On reaching Abu Ghosh I had our tent erected there for
the night, and we lunched. In the course of the meal 1 picked up some
information from the fellahin. They told me : —

(i.) Of Deir Izhar (,\^Ui or ,LU,(?) on the right of the road and to the
west of the church of Abu Ghosh. This place was said to have
been formerly connected with the convent by a subterranean way ;

(2.) Of a " beled," or inhabited village (hitherto not marked on the
maps), situated to the north of Saris, and called Beit TJml ;

(3.) Of Beit Nushef, between Beit Likia and Beit Sira, etc

Khaldil ez Zumnidry. — After lunch we went to explore the neighbour-
hood. About half-an-hour to the south-west of the village I noticed in the
'WaAy Khaldil ez Zuvimdry %vio burial vaults hollowed out in the rock. In
one of them, on the back wall of the arcosolium, on the right hand as you go
on, a cross is cut.|

El JTinilr. — We next passed through the inhabited but half-ruined village
of cl E'nitlr ('Ammur) (,^i), which lies to the north of the broad wady of
the same name. I noticed two shafts of columns and a few burial-caves.

Jeb'a. — After crossing the valley, we arrived at last at the; Kh. Jcb'a, to
the south-west of el E'mur. The suggestive name of this place had made a

* The real meaning of the name must be, " the ruin opposite."

t I find indeed the following entry in one of my old note books : " On the west of
the road from Kastal to Soba, at the foot of the hill, I noticed a ruin called K/t. H'tal cl fetus li
([>ujil\ Jl>), with an extensive cave, and an angle of masonry of large rough hewn blocks.
One of them measured i"''25. high by 2m. in length, and looked as if it formed part of an

enclosing wall (1870, Carnet, III, p. 29)." [Wherever a reference to " Garnet, etc " occurs,

the author's unpublished Notes of his observations before and after the years 1873 and 1874 are
indicated.]

X Sketch lost.

5«

Archcrological Researches in Palesfine.

vivid impression on me when I first heard it pronounced by the fellahin, so I
made all haste to explore it.

The name is applied to a vast plateau covered with ruins, at the top of a
hill placed at the confluence of two valleys, Wady E'mur ('Ammur) and
Wad el Ehmar (Hamar), which unite above Ras el Jeb'a (to the west).

This plateau appears to have been the seat of a considerable town, to
judge by the numerous but shapeless ruins to be found on it. These consist
chiefly of heaps of fallen stones, for the most part of small size, belonging to
ancient walls. Here and there, however, a few large blocks, more carefully
hewn, are to be seen. The soil presents that greyish tint which in this
country is characteristic of the sites of ancient cities, and it is strewn with
potsherds. We counted quite a number of cisterns with large square mouths,
wine-presses, etc., cut in the rock. Unfortunately the whole place was over-
run and covered up with grass and brushwood, which obstructed our efforts.
M. Lecomte made a drawing of a large reservoir cut in the rock and
fronted by two arches, belonging apparently to a vaulting intended to cover
it in.

RESERVOIR AT KII. .lEB A.

At one end, towards the south-west, this plateau is separated by a
considerable depression, called Khairt el Jeb'a, from an eminence, Rds cl Jeb'a,
which appears to have been the fortified part or acropolis of the city. Here
are cisterns, wine-presses, double walls, etc. ; towards the north there is a
large heap of stones called Rjum Jeb'a. We took the bearings from this :
Saris, 304"; Neby Shamwil, 62°; Soba, 99°.

Threshing Floors. — On our way back from the Rds, we traversed the

whole length of the plateau, and I noticed further two huge threshing floors

cut in the rock. The fellahin generally call threshing floors of this soxtjiuxn,

.,''i.. The name and the object correspond exactly to the Biblical goren, p3.

Tour from Jcritsalcin to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 59

Moreover also the vulgar pronunciation is the same, the jczni with which
the r is marked in literary Arabic [jitrn) being replaced by a regular short
vowel, the equivalent of the Hebrew segol.'"'

Gibeah. — What was the ancient city now represented by the Kh. Jeb'a ?
Its name would seem to connect it with the already numerous group of Gibeahs
in the Bible ;t Jeb'a, 'i-K^^^ answers exactly to Gibeah nV33, which from its
derivation signifies "hill." This generic meaning sufficiently accounts for
this homonymy, which creates such confusion in the ancient topography of
Palestine.

Among the various Gibeahs in the Bible, there is one that would
correspond pretty closely with Jeb'a, namely the Gibeah where the inhabitants
of Kirjath-Jearim deposited the Ark after fetching it from Bethshemesh.
The nearness of Abu Ghosh, if we adopt the general identification of this
with Kirjath-Jearim, would rather favour this view. Again, it is worth
noticing that our Jeb'a lies exactly on the road that one has to take in going
from 'Ain Shemes (Bethshemesh) to Abu Ghosh. Still I will not venture
at present to assert that that is where we must look for the house of
Abinadab, where the Ark remained for twenty years till David took it away
to Jerusalem. One objection among others to such an assertion is that it is
hard to reconcile with the opinion (a conjectural one, it must be said) which
considers the Gibeah of the Ark to be the Gibeat Kirjathj enumerated by
Joshua among the cities of Benjamin. If the boundary of Judah really
passed by Abu Ghosh, our Jeb'a would be too far to the south to have been
comprised in the territory of Benjamin. The whole of this question requires
to be taken up again and treated thoroughly.

\4in Mahtush. — We returned from Abu Ghosh by way of 'Ain Mahtihh
in the valley of the same name. Up above are visible the ruins of a birkeh,
built of large blocks. It served no doubt to regulate the flow of water used
to irrigate the valley.

* This, by the bye, is a general observation, appHcable to the whole series of segolaie nouns
and the corresponding words in popular Arabic, as I already had occasion to show a long time
ago. This phenomenon is one of the most striking of those that directly unite the phonetics of
popular Arabic with that of Hebrew, passing over the head, so to speak, of literary Arabic.

t Like names are no less common in Arabic place-nomenclature. My guide told me on
another occasion of two places called KJi. J'bea, one situated, he said, to the south of Kastal, the
other between Beit 'Enan and Katanneh. I found them marked on the Map, which shows in
a general way the correct knowledge of my old sheikh Ibrahim .-\hmed.

% Gibeath and Kirjath (.^.V.). (Translator's note.)

I 2

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Opposite the spring, on the other side of the valley, I saw in the distance
some ruins of a so-called cyclopiean structure, which were pointed out to us
by the name of Beit Rumnidn. This puts one in mind of the numerous
Rimmons in the Bible, but it may simply be formed from the Arab word
for pomegranate.

Chirck of Abu Ghosh. — On returning to Abu Ghosh we studied certain
details of the media;val church, of which a concession had just been made to
the French Government.* I saw again the Latin masons' marks that I was
the first to point out in 1870, and we copied them afresh. {See the special
table, Vol. I.) On one of the courses, to the right as you go in, I discovered
a small graffito of two lines, but could only make out a few Latin characters,
perhaps of the Crusading period or possibly later. The first line, which

has been hammered over, has almost
entirely disappeared, with the excep-
tion of a small footed cross of distinct
oudine, which formed the beginning
of it. In the second line one can
clearly read: E||OVLSA. The
block on which the lines are engraved
bears unmistakable traces of the mediceval slantincj tool-marks. Here
follows a facsimile from the squeezes I took.

Above the entrance door of the subterranean
church I noticed traces of a two-armed cross
inscribed in a circle. It had been hammered over.

Crusaders 'J^ooi - xlfarks. — I particularly set
myself to distinguish the heterogeneous styles of
dressing the stones that we found in the upper and
lower parts of the church, and observed a fact
with reference to the mediaeval tool-marks on the
blocks, which is a regular proof of the law that I
discovered and have set forth above (Vol. I). It

Elevation.

B. Plan.

* A study of this church and the crypt in great detail, with views, plans, sections, and
elevations, will be found in an article by M. Mauss, published in the Revue ArMologiqiie for
March — April, 1892, pp. 223, et seqq. Cf. in the Heme Biblique (1893, p. 41) the remarks of
I'ather Germer-Durand, where he disputes certain views of M. Mauss, states that the frescoes are
accompanied by L.atin Inscriptions, and supposes that the Church belonging to the Hospitallers
was dedicated to St. John.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 6i

will be remembered that by this law the blocks hewn by the Crusaders have
oblique tool-marks when they are fat, and that the tool-marks are more or
less parallel with the perpendicular if the blocks take a curved form. Now
in the three circular apses at the end of the church of Abu Ghosh there
is a very short straight part just before the curved part begins, and the
combination of the flat and curved surfaces appears on one and the same
block ; well, this block shows on its flat part the oblique marks, and on its
curved part (it is here practically a vertical cylinder) they are almost
vertical. I took a squeeze of the surface, clearly showing this twofold
characteristic.

Origin of the Church. — The history and origin of the church of Abu
Ghosh remain an unsolved problem. The main part of the building is
indisputably of the time of the Crusades, though in the lower part of the
subterranean church which forms the crypt there are some large " pock-
marked " blocks, which may be earlier than the Crusades, but are not
necessarily so.^' The outer facing of the walls has been so carelessly done,
and with such coarse materials, that one is inclined to suppose it to have been
restored or even finished at a much later date. Indeed, it is quite possible
that the building had to be hurriedly abandoned by the Crusaders when it
was in course of construction, on account of the approach of Saladin, and
that it was brought to its present condition at a much later date. This
hypothesis would easily account for the distressing irregularity in the dressing
of the stones, which exhibit side by side the most careful and the rudest work.

As for the singular appellation of St. Jeremy which modern tradition
attaches to the church, one can only explain it by supposing it due to
an ignorant confusion between the names Kirjath Jearim and Jeremias
[Hieremias). Franks who were at one time masters of the Holy Land,
and were mostly unlearned folk, may have been misled by the superficial
resemblance of the two words. It is, however, unnecessary to go back to
the Crusades for the origin of this error. It may very well have been started
since that time, and be the work not of the conquerors but of pilgrims and
monks from the west in later ages.

* M. Mauss is of opinion that the church of the Crusaders has been adapted so to speak by
them from the main [lortion of an ancient Roman castellum : this would explain the extraordinary
thickness of the walls, the fact that the apses do not project out beyond the eastern wall, leaving
the latter an unbroken line, the holes made in the walls after building for the openings of the
door and windows, etc. Resuming an ancient theory, he proposes to make this castellum the
Castle of Emmaus. and Abu Ghosh, Emmaus.

62 Archccolozical Rcsearclics in Palest i

i> '

nc.

In this case what tradition, if any, did the Crusaders wish to perpetuate
when they built this church ? May we not suppose it was that of the abiding
of the Ark at Kirjath Jearim, if we admit that Gibeah was merely a quarter
of that town ?

Such were the inductions I was led to by considering this obscure
question on the spot itself. I have since found an unexpected confirmation
of this view in a text which I had not then by me, and which seems to have
hardly been resorted to in the controversy. Petrus Cassinensis, in his
Libellus de locis Sanctis, the date of which has been established as being
about 1 137, says that at a place 9 miles from Jerusalem called Kirjathjearivi,
where the Ark of the Lord was, a church has been constructed : " milliario
nono ab Jerusalem, in loco qui dicitur Kariathjearim, ubi fuit archa Domini,
ecclesia illic constructa est."

Several important results ensue from this decisive passage : —

(i.) Abu Ghosh was identified with Kirjath Jearim as early as the
Crusades.

(2.) The church dates back to the first half of the twelfth century at least.

(3.) The Ark was connected with it in tradition.

Probably this same Biblical reminiscence is accountable, in spite of
appearances to the contrary, for the Mussulman tradition which makes the
small mosque near the church a sanctuary or makdiii of Esdras. This
tradition perhaps is not so incongruous as it appears. It is known, of course,
that this "prophet" is called in Arabic Ncby 'Ozeir or cl 'Ozcir. Esdras
assuredly had nothing to do with Kirjath Jearim, but the Arabic form of his
name ^j •..til corresponds literally \vith the Hebrew name "lti^7X Eleazar, the son
of Abinadab, and it must not be forgotten that there was an Eleazar to whom
the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim entrusted the care of the Ark.

Moreover, in further support of this conjecture I can cite a notorious
instance of the Arabic name for Esdras in the form el 'Ozeir being substituted
for that of Eleazar. Jewish and Samaritan tradition point out to one, at
'Awerta, near Nablus, a place of which we shall have more to say later on,
the tomb of Eleazar the Son of Aaron.. Now to the Mussulmans this is the
tomb of el 'Ozeir. Thus we are perfectly justified in assuming that beneath
the el 'Ozeir of Abu Ghosh there lurks an Eleazar.

The localization of the legend of Esdras at Abu Ghosh, moreover, seems
to me to have much older warranty than one would have supposed from the
mere witness of rustic fellahin. There is a passage in the Koran {Stwah of
the cow, verse 263) in which the Mussulmen commentators of early date

ToJir from Jcrnsalciu to [affa and the Coimti'v of Samson. 6

recognized an allusion to Esdras, though he is not mentioned in it by name.
It begins thus : " And as he who passed through a city {Kariatul) with
ruined houses," etc. Several early commentators, seizing on this word A^r/cr, '
have expressly applied it to Abu Ghosh, the real name of which, as we know,
is Kariat el'Enab ("the village of grapes"), or, for short, cl Karia. I have
not the original texts by me just now, so will content myself with quoting,
with further abridgement, the summary of them given by the old d'Herbelot
in his Bibliotheque Orientale, evidently from Persian sources (perhaps the
Kisas cl-anbid ?). Esdras, on his way to Jerusalem, stopped at a village near
the Holy City. The village was ruined, but there were many vines and
fig-trees. Esdras took up his quarters behind a wall, and there supported
himself on fruit, with his ass tethered near him."" The village was variously
called Seir abadt (" place for walking " in Persian) and Diar Anab {sic).
One cannot help recognizing in this last name, which is evidently ,_^u; ,l-'-s
the characteristic name of our Kariat el 'Enab. Thus it is seen that there is
more than one reason assignable for the legend of Esdras prevalent in these
days at Abu Ghosh, and at the same time indirect proof is obtained that the
name of the village is not an invention of yesterday, it containing the element
Kariat, which is one of the principal bases of the identification made by
western commentators with Kirjath Jearim.

Beit Mahsir. — Next morning we broke up the camp to go to Bir
el Ma'in, to the north-west of Abu Ghush, which was to be our second
halting-place. I sent the baggage on by a direct route, so that we might be
free to follow another.

We again crossed the Jaffa high road, leaving the eminence of Deir
Izhar to our left on the soutli-west, and followed the course of the Wady
BahV, which lay to our left, deepening as it went on.

As we went along we saw in the distance the wooded crest of Beit
Mahsir. When one reflects that this commanding point, lying to the north of
Kesla between 'Ain Shemes and Abu Ghosh, is, to the eye at least, the
highest in the neighbourhood, one is sorely tempted to take it for the undis-
coverable Mount Seir, one of the landmarks of the boundary of Judah. One

* It appears from a legend, that I picked up later at Abu Ghosh, that this characteristic
feature of the legend, the ass of Esdras, still lingers in local tradition.

t Seirabad, j\jl jw, is perhaps the result of a mistaken reading for jL'l-'L; Salwr abad,
" the town of Shahpor," where, according to a variant of the legend, Esdras died and was raised to
life.

64 Arcliccological Researches in Palestine.

could even, if need were, find certain affinities between the two names, in
spite of their apparent differences. If we cut off from Mahsir the servile
syllable via, we have left the theme hsir, by interversion shir. The form
Mishir noted by Van de Velde, if it is not due to a misunderstanding on his
part, would even contain the non-interverted form, and this variant would
furnish a good intermediate form. As for the substitution of an Arabic ha
for a Hebrew '«///, this is authorised by numerous instances found in geo-
graphical names. In any case this comparison is much less improbable, on
phonetic grounds, than the one which Schwarz, Tobler and others have tried
to establish with Saris. The requirements of topography also appear to me
to be equally well fulfilled.

Zunukleh. — The spot marked Kh. Saris on Van de Velde's map was
pointed out to me by the name of ZunukleJi, one that I had already noted
some years previous. A sort of stone tripod is said to have been found, some
time back, in a cavern at Beit Mahsir.

Jebel 'Abd cr Rahman. — My guide, whom I had set talking on the
question of mountains, told me, as we went along, of one called Jebel 'Abd
er Rahman, reputed the highest in those parts, "not excepting," said he,
" Neby Shamwil." It lies, according to his statement, to the north-east of
Abu Ghosh and to the south-west of Beit Siirik, about an hour's journey from
the former village. It is said that a most extensive view of the country
round is to be had from its summit."

Meshdhed. — While we were thus conversing with Ibrahim Ahmed,
the ascent became so difficult that we had to dismount every now and then, so
as not to break our necks over the sloping patches of rock, polished into
slipperiness, that crossed our path at every step. After more than three
quarters of an hour of this distinctly unpleasant exercise, more like a ride over
the roofs of a European town than anything else, we beheld numbers of
meshdhed,^ showing that we were in sight of Beit Thul.

* I do not find this name on the Map. [This is evidently another name for the hill-top
called " Batn es S'aideh," which was used as a trigonometrical point by the Survey Party. — Ed.]
The exact position of Jebel 'Abd er Rahman — its very existence, of course I only know by
hearsay — remains to be verified and fixed, as also does its real altitude. The indications given
by my guide would seem to take us within the triangle of high hills lying between Abu Ghosh,
Beit Surik and Kalaunieh (Kiilonieh). In this region Mount Ephron is placed by common
consent, and Jebel 'Abd er Rahman, probably the highest point in the range, might very well
correspond to that mountain.

t Small heaps of stones placed at the points from which the villages or sanctuaries first come
into view.

Tour from /cntuilcin to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

Beit Thill ( TiW). — The name of this village presents a curious, but, let
me add, quite fortuitous resemblance to that of the Bethulia of Judith. It had
hitherto escaped the attention of explorers of the Holy Land, and this was
to me its greatest attraction. '

From Beit Thul one enjoys a very fine view of the plain that lies
beneath through a gap in the hills.

The village was inhabited, and a hearty welcome was accorded to us.
The site possesses importance and certainly antiquity, and in fact we noticed
both in and around the village all the characteristics of sites of this kind,
cisterns, presses, caverns and tombs hewn out in the rock, especially on the
western slope of the hill ; foundations of houses and quarry-holes cut into the
living rock, fragments of pottery, a grey tinge in the soil, and so forth ; and,
further, a seemingly ancient road, bordered with large blocks and extending,
as it appears, to Yalo, an hour's journey distant.

The village contains two welys, one the sanctuary of Sheikh Iiijeivi, the
other that of Bedriyeh. In front of the wely of Bedriyeh, I noticed the
remains of a small aqueduct of masonry and two large shafts of ancient
columns.

In the courtyard of an old ruined house we lit upon a rather curious
capital, of hard stone, and cubical in shape, the two opposite faces presenting
two spiral scrolls ornamented with large Greek crosses.

Elevation.

Plan, looking up.

Side view.

CAPITAI, AT BEIT THUL.

On measuring, it appeared that this capital must have belonged to one
of the two columns mentioned just above. These remains lead one to suppose
that an important Christian building of the Byzantine period once existed at
Beit Thul.

According to local tradition Bedriyeh was the sister of the Sheikh In'jeim.
When the latter established himself there the place was nothing but a desert.

66 'Archcvological Researches in Palestine.

The holy man was ministered to, and even, I beheve, fed by a gazelle. After
his death, his sister Bedriyeh took his place, and afterwards the place became
a town. This legend is an interesting one. The Sheikh's name, it should
be noted, comes from the same root as nejnt, "star;"' Injeini is the rapid
pronunciation, with a prosthetic alif, of »j^ mtjeiin, "little star." The
sister's name is derived from bcdr, " the full moon." I should not be surprised
if, as so often happens in Palestine, this pious and respected pair were found
to be the expression of some old mythological notion connected with
astronomy. At all events, this legend may be compared with the one
prevalent among the Mussulmans, which recounts how God, having caused
a gourd-tree to grow over Jonah's head,* sent a wild ibex to nourish him with
her milk.f I would also adduce, for comparison, a coin of Damascus, which
may have been known to the Arabs at the time of the conquest, and have
suggested to them " iconologically " the idea of this fable from the design
on the obverse : a doe suckling an infant.\ Possibly this scene was accom-
panied on some specimens by the symbols of the moon and star d * ,
which frequently figure on other Damascus coins ; hence Injeini and
Bedriyeh.%^

The fellahin of Beit Thul told me that the town was formerly called
among the Christians Ka/'at Fertin ^^ji ^j^ ; "the fortress of Fertin,"|| a
Christian or pagan king (Kafer) who reigned there and lorded it over all the
surrounding region. He perished in the tnfdn, "the deluge," which issued
from the Tannilr of Abu Shusheh (Gezer) and submerged the whole country.
In speaking of Gezer I shall have occasion to recur to this latter legend, a

* ^^'e have here, I think, an instance of the mythologie des images, which I have aheady
proposed to call konology ; the story of Jonah and the kikaiyon tree is closely connected with
those numerous tesserce of Palmyra, on which the dead man is represented lying beneath a tree
bearing large round berries.

t Bochart, I, 920, 20.

X Mionnet, V, 292 ; cf. de Saulcy, Nuinhin. dd la Terre Sainte, p. 45, No. 13. Compare
the myth of Telephus suckled by a doe.

§ This generation of Arab legends through the arbitrary interpretations of scenes figured on
ancient coins is not an isolated case. For instance, I have already shown {Reaieil d'Archcol.
orientah, I, p. 311) that the remarkable Mussulman legend of Adam ploughing at Acre with a
fair of oxen led by Gabriel, which is localized at 'Ain el Bakar near Acre, arose from a popular
interpretation of the colonial coins of Acre, on which the imperial founder of Ptolemais is seen
driving a cart, the symbol of colonization in Roman worship, with a genius hovering above him.

II Fertin is perhaps a transposition for Tar/in, which we shall be concerned with later.

To7[r from Jcmsalcm to Jaffa and the Comiti-y of Samson. 67

very important one. I consider it to be a fragment of one of the oldest and
most widespread beliefs in the land of Canaan.

I was told of a Kk. Jllismdr situated between Beit Thul and Zunukleh.

On my way through this region I noted an expression absolutely peculiar
to the fellahin there, namely, m'ayi {llii.< or ^jl«.«), in the sense of lithir,
" much."

The ethnic name of the inhabitants of the village is Th/ily, plural
Tazudlch. I shall often have occasion to recur to this question of ethnics.
Sufficient attention has not been paid to them, and I have always made an
effort to collect them carefully, for in my opinion they often preserve for its
the more archaic forms of the place-names.

Beit Thul is evidently some ancient locality of distinct importance, but
which is it ? The likeness of the name to Bethulia, false as a mirage, must
not deceive us for a moment.

Might not one identify it with the undiscoverable Jithlah mentioned
in Joshua xix, 42, among the towns belonging to the tribe of Dan, and
forming a separate group with Ajalon and Shaalabbin ?

This identification is most tempting to the geographer, considering that
Beit Thul is near Yalo (Ajalon), and is even joined to it by the ancient road
I mentioned just now.

From the etymologist's point of view the notion is admissible. We are
quite at liberty in considering the name Beit Thill to take as usual only the
second half, eliminating the insignificant factor belt, "house." This leaves us
Thul. the essential factor, and the only one remaining in the ethnic Thuly.

T/ml, J^, {Thauiy* signifies in Arabic a "swarm of bees" or "hornets."
So we might stop at this and suppose the name to be of purely Arabic origin,
"the house of the bees" or "of the hornets." As a matter of fact Beit Thul
does produce excellent honey, and we partook of some with relish. One has
to beware, however, of these appellations that appear to be of purely Arabic
origin, they are often ancient Hebrew names converted by a process of
popular etymology into words familiar to the Arabs. In many cases slight
phonetic changes assist the process. These, by the bye, are not arbitrary,
but are subject to real laws. Thus, for instance, the name of the Bible town

* In the Name Lists the name is written Jj ci^-j^.' , and the second element Tnl is
regarded as a proper name, and wrongly translated "length," from a confusion with the word
JjU, which is radically different.

K 2

68 Arclueological Researches in Palestine.

of Thiiiniah has become in fellah speech Tibneh, "chopped straw." Similarly
TIml may stand for Jethlah, the two last radicals of which it has preserved.
The first syllable // may be either (i) radical — this is the opinion of Fiirst,
who derives the name JithlaJi from one of those imaginary roots which
are his particular foible, namely Sii (which itself, by the bye, is formed from
th) ; or (2) servile, in case the word really comes from HtTI talali, " to be
hung, hung up." In either case the disappearance of this initial syllable Ji
is the most natural thing in the world. This is how, for instance, Jericho
becomes in Arabic Riha {Erihd) ; Jezreel, Zerin; Jeshanah, Sinia, etc. At
any rate that seems to me quite as reasonable as the identification with the
name of a valley, Wady ''Ata/a,^'' which has been suggested in desperation.

Arab Legend.- — At Beit Thul I took on an extra guide to go to Kh.
Hirsha or Hersheh (JJ:^.=^^. The breath of the Khainsin\ was scorching,
the heat overpowering, the sky without a cloud, and of a blinding chalk-like
whiteness. Our way lay through partially cut fields of corn. The harvest-
men, it appears, are in the habit of leaving off work while this wind is blowing,
because, they say, the corn-stalks get dry and are too hard to cut. The hills
that we crossed were covered with underwood. A quantity of charcoal is
made about here, and the operation is generally conducted in old rock-hewn
caves, frequently ancient graves.

As we went along, my guide from Beit Thul told me that opposite Saris,
on the other side the confluence of the two valleys, there was a steep place
called 'Elliet en. Ninicr, "the Height of the Panther." There, in a cavern
still existing at the present day, was once the den of a most savage panther
which ravaged the country round, and cut off the communication through
Wady Safieh and W'ady Huteh. One day an ancestor of one of the inhabi-
tants of Beit Thul went to slay it. The beast sprang upon him, planted its
claws in his back, and carried him off to one of the highest rocks about its
den. Here, however, the bold hunter managed to draw his knife, turned
round and slew the panther, and cut off its paw, which remained imbedded in

* Map of Van de Velde. The existence of this name is not even asserted, and I do not
find it on the Map. Phonetically, it would rather suggest Ataroth of Benjamin, which should be

hereabouts, unless indeed it is simply aJJl lU r ?

t Khamsin. This name, which means "fifty," is generally accounted for by the number of
days during which this wind is said to blow. I am rather inclined to think that it comes from the
season in which it blows; the Khamsin is the prevailing wind in the period oi fffy days
comprised between Easter and Pcntea'st {iUi'TijKoaTij).

Tojir from Jcnisalau (o Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 69

his back. A skilful leech succeeded in extracting it, and he recovered.

What struck me about this legend was the name given to the hunter's knife,

shibriyeh. This word is probably derived from shibr, " palm " or " span," and

probably denotes the length of the blade of the dagger. This is the same as

that of the /lereb, with which Ehud the Left-handed slew Eglon king of Moab,

which measured a zomed.

Dhahr el Hnteli. — Looking to the north-west of Beit Thul in the direction

of Ramleh, I noticed a rocky height called DhaJir el Hi'Ueh, which they say

was struck by lightning and cloven into three parts.

Kit. el Kascr. — To the south-west of our route, above the Wady Safieh, is

Kh. el Kaser (Kiisr).

Bdfn el Jarnul. — To the north-west of our route and to the north of

Hirsha is a height Bdfn el Jarrl^id, so called because the soldiers of Islam
assembled there {j'arradil). This appellation may have reference to some
military event, for it is well known that in this region, that of Beit Nuba,
the Franks and Saladin engaged in numerous combats.

Hirsha. — However, we were now approaching Hirsha. We encountered
first a commanding height called from its position the Munldr (observatory)
of Hirsha.

The Sloiie of the Pregnant JVoman. — We noticed on the slope of the
Muntar a long hewn block of about 3"''20, broken at one end ; this is " the
pillar of the fairy " or female jinn, 'amud el jinniyeh. Tradition has it that
2i pregnant she-farry had received orders from Solomon to bring stones for
building the Temple at Jerusalem. She was in the act of carrying this heavy
pillar, which she had fetched from Hirsha, when she learned by the way that
the mighty king who had imposed this hard task on her was dead. She
straightway threw her crushing burden to the ground, the stone broke with
the shock, and remained there ever after. This legend of " the stone of the
pregnant woman " {Hajar el Hableh) is very popular with the Arabs of Syria.
I have found it in several places, and mean some day to make a special study
of it.'"

* We must reject the explanation suggested by M. Renan in his Mission de Plihticie (p. 74),
according to which a Hajar el HaHeh (transcribed Hubleh) stands for Hajar el Kuhleti { \^\),
"the Stone ot the South." There is no doubt that the real meaning is "the Stone of the
Pregnant Woman." The same mistake was once made about the same name as applied
to the colossal hewn block in the ancient quarries of Baalbek {cf., for instance, Baedeker's
Falestiiie and Syria, ed. 1876, p. 500). Now in an ancient Italian MS. that lies before me, and

Archcpoloo-ical Researches: in Palestine.

~iiw

Waterworks. — I remarked further on a section of an aqueduct partly cut
in the rock ; a little further still, a huge threshing floor, a mosaic floor in situ,
with large cubes of white limestone (called by the fellahin kazamit)* still in
their bed of thick cement ; and then cisterns, fragments of pottery, etc.

Next we made our way into an immense subterranean reservoir cut out
in the solid rock, and measuring i4'"'8o in length, 13m. in breadth, and at

least 8m. in height. The ceiling is flat and
sloping, and pierced with several openings, three
round and one square, to allow of water being
drawn out or admitted. The lower part of the
sides is still covered with a coat of concrete
o'""2 5 in thickness. In the middle a few large
blocks, carefully hewn, lie on the ground. In
one of the corners of this monumental cistern,
which forms a regular subterranean birkeJi, is
the beginning of a wide canal, partly cut in the
rock and partly built of masonry, which would
allow of the water being let out and guided for
the purposes of irrigation, as I suppose. This
aqueduct consists of a sort of trench with top
uncovered. At the end it is crossed by a struc-
ture of masonry with a groove in it which seems
to have admitted the gate of a sluice for regu-
lating the flow of the water. Further on it is
joined at right angles by a wall surmounted with
a cornice.

Lower down is another birkeh also cut in
the rock, but this time open to the sky.

This large and remarkable reservoir is called 'Aineziyet Hirsha. This

BIRKEH AT HIRSHA.

^-r^^s;^^

B. TRANSVERSE SECTION'.
Scale rrnr-

is nothing more or less than a translation of an Arabic treatise on searching for hidden treasure
in Syria, this same stone at Ba'albek is called la pietra gravida, evidently for del/a gravida. I
believe that this extremely curious legend has some connexion with the tradition concerning the
Can-atids or statues of women supporting a building or an entablature. There may be a basis
for comparison with the three kneeling statues at Rome, brought from Syria after the defeat of
Antiochus, and regarded by the people as divinities presiding over women in childbirth. M. Breal
thinks that these nixi di were Caryatids. In Western folk-lore there are legends which strikingly
recall that of the Hajar el Hahleh (cf Revue arcMologique, May-June, 1893, p. 350, et seqqi).

* The word is tortured into various shapes by the Arabs. At Lydda I heard it pronounced
hazamit. It must be some foreign word, Greek perhaps, that has passed into Arabic.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and tlie Country of Samson. 71

name 'Aineziyeh, which is not to be found in our Arabic Lexicons, signifies a
(covered) reservoir more extensive than a cistern, and is applied, for instance,
to the great cistern at Ramleh.

Besides this, there is in the neighbourhood a group of ruins of some size
consisting of heaps of well-hewn stones, many of them belonging to arched
bays, and some bearing bossages.

We noticed among them a fine carved lintel bearing a Greek cross
contained in a circle or crown. ■■

A tomb, with three arcosolia, had been afterwards transformed into a
cistern. We had all the trouble in the world to crawl in and examine it.

This group of waterworks of such a size, these ruins of houses with
arched bays, etc., point to the existence here of an important settlement,
probably dating back to the Byzantine period. Did Hirsha exist before this
period ? and what can it have been ? The name recalls that of the forest of
Hareth which served as a refuge to David (allowing for the well-known
interchange of the shin and the tan) : or that of Mount Heres, which cannot
have been far from Yalo. But these are mere hypothetical identifications, I
do not wish to lay stress upon them.

Various Localities. — After a lunch, which we took at our ease beneath a
fine carob-tree, and washed down with excellent water, I dismissed our guide
from Beit Thul and we set off for Beit Nuba. I first of all took down from his
lips the names and approximate positions of certain places round about which
we had no leisure to visit : Jamniures, Kh. STizudn, Kh. RakMbes, to the east
of Beit Nuba and to the south of Beit Likia. He told me that Bezka, which
I desired to visit because the name had struck me, was to be found to the
north of Kubab and the east of el K'niseh, between Selbit and 'Annabeh.

Beit Nuba. — At three o'clock we entered Beit Nuba, whose inhabitants
looked on us with suspicion, and gave us a surly reception, forming a
striking contrast with the cordial welcome we had just before found at Beit
Thill. However, I did not allow myself to be discouraged, hoping that as
the village was formerly inhabited by the Crusaders, it might have some find
in store for us, and by dint of pertinacity I obtained access to the houses,
whether they liked it or not.

Mediceval Church. — Our perseverance was rewarded, for we discovered,
shut in by these wretched hovels, three apses, regularly orientated, of a large
mediseval church, hitherto unknown. We noted among the masons' marks

* Sketcli lost.

Arch(tolos:ical Researches in Pa/es/iiie.

an ]\r, and in the straight and curved portions of the apses the same peculiarity
of tool marks, either diagonal or approaching the vertical, as in the church at
Abu Ghosh.

Unfortunately time failed us to make a complete plan, and to distinguish
all the primitive elements in the conglomeration of houses that clung to the
ruined building.

However, we noted enough to give a general idea of the whole. The
church is in the eastern portion of the village. A rough and incomplete plan
of it follows here.

1_J

> i

^ZH

BEIT NUBA — CHURCH OK THE CRUSADERS.

A. Plan (scale of 3^).

B. Elevation of a door in ihe north wall of the small north aisle. Scale -^;,.

C. Section of the cornice.

Tour from Jerusalein to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

In the courtyard of a house I noticed, lying on the ground, a very
handsome holy-water stoup of carved white marble, probably belonging to the
church of the Crusaders, with which it is, I think, contemporary.

'^■'■^-t^■.=^ .,*»*'■ ^jJASsi ■'

View, looking up,

j^T^/:^/^'^^

Section.

This, I think, is the unique instance of a holy-water stoup found in
Palestine.'" Apart from that, it is interesting for the history of Western Art
to find a specimen of these articles that cannot be later than the 13th century.
This proof of the existence of mediaeval remains at Beit Nuba settles once
and for all the question whether the casal Bettenoble should be identified with
Beit Nuba, or, as some authors, M. Guerin for instance, would have it, with
'Annabeh.

On the west of the village is a makam dedicated to Neby Tarfin or
Turfiny [^^Ja), a descendant of the patriarch Jacob, as local tradition assures
us. I cannot make out what lies concealed beneath this singular name. May
it be that of the name of king Fertin or Fartin, the personage of the legend
of Beit Thul already given, the / and / being transposed ? The king,
however, appears in this legend as a pagan or Christian. It may possibly
have some connection with the Jewish name Tarphon pDllO, which has
been borne by several ancient rabbis, and is in itself merely a corruption
of the Greek TpvcficDi'. Perhaps, again, it is a transformation — a quite
regular one — of the name Tpo(^iju,os which occurs several times in Christian
martyrology.

B/ Eismreh. — We left Beit Nuba and directed our steps to el B'weireh,

* I find, however, the following among my notes, marked with a query: "Fragment of a
holy-water stoup (?) of carved marble, found .in the Crusaders' Church at Kuhciheb." A drawing
of it by ISI. I.ecomte must have gone astray like a number of others.

Archcvoloirical Researches in. Palestine.

where I wanted to examine some ancient remains that I had heard of a long
time before from different fellahin.*

El B'weireh is a ruin of some importance, and had not hitherto been
visited by Palestine explorers. It has numerous rock-hewn caves.

We found a great number of the inhabitants of Katanneh, a village lying
some distance to the east, who spend part of the summer there for the
harvesting. This custom of taking a country holiday every year in certain
KJiiirhehs or ruins is a very common one in Palestine. It may serve to explain
why and in what manner the tradition of the names of places has been so
faithfully preserved, even when these are deserted.

The fellahin showed great distrust of us at the outset, and it was only by
dint of repeated negotiations that I obtained the information I wanted. We
were first taken to see a fine lintel of hard stone, i™*30 long, ornamented on
one of its faces with three crosses of slightly different shape, inscribed in a
circle. One of the crosses, the one on the right, has four small knobs between

LINTEL AT b'weireh. Front view.

li'vVElREH. View looking up.

il'II

J~C

Side view.

* At this point there is some confusion in the notes of my route that I cannot clear up. I
can only make outthe name '"Ajenjiil, to the north of Latrun." This note must evidently have
a connection with the " Khiirbet el Junjul " of the Map, which we passed through just before
arrivmg at B'weireh. I cannot say whether my entry refers to this place under a form of name
noticeably different, or to another place of the same name in the neighbourhood of Latrfln that
may have been mentioned by my guide in speaking of it.

Tour from Jerusaleiii to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

its arms. The lower surface presents recesses intended doubdess to ensure
the cohesion of the stone with the fabric to which it belona-ed.

We next were led to a large field surrounded by a dry stone wall, in which
we perceived a quantity of fine blocks carefully hewn, some with a moulding,
which were said to have come from the ground inside the wall. The tool-
marking was not mediaeval, and I am inclined to believe that these materials
date back earlier than the Crusades, probably to the Byzantine period.

There was another lintel broken into two unequal portions, and by
good luck we found the missing portion in the middle of the field. It is
ornamented with an elegant Greek cross enclosed in a square with another
square intertwined diagonally ; on the four arms of the cross are four small
projecting knobs ; on the right and left, two triangular auricles resembling
those on inscribed cartouches. The whole is carved in relief, and produces a
very fine decorative effect ; the style is pure Byzantine. Length of the lintel

I.INTEL AT BwEIREH.

The fellahin of el B'weireh indicated to me several spots which we had not
time to go and see, as the day was drawing to a close : —

Kh. Kanbilt, on the west side of Kh. el B'weireh, but forming part of it,
so to speak. Kanbilt, I was told, was a man of " Ibrahim Pasha's time ;"

Kh. es Seder ;

Kh. Barada, to the south of B'weireh.

We resumed our journey to Bir el Ma'in, and passed through the ruins of
Kh. el Hadetheh, quite near B'weireh. Here again we noticed considerable
ancient remains, caves and foundations of houses, hollowed out in the rock,
cisterns and ruins of buildings, blocks well hewn and moulded, columns, and
two birkehs. However, as the day was far spent, we had to content ourselves
with a superficial survey, so as to get to the tent before nightfall. I noticed
growing among the ruins those yellow Bowers which are so characteristic of

L 2

76 Archccological Researches in Palestine.

such places, as has already been observed. The fellahin call them nmrrdr or
shok el murrdr.

To sum up, my impression is that all the country from here to Beit Thul
must have been very prosperous in Byzantine times, and that the ruins we
noticed at Beit Thul, Hirsha, B'weireh and Hadetheh all belong to that
period. There were on those spots extensive groups of inhabited dwellings,
perhaps large agricultural colonies of monastic origin.

The Hasmoncean Adasa. — I do not mean that these Christian com-
munities were not established on the sites of older localities. For instance,
Hadetheh (.'o.\;^) should represent some ancient ntt:'"Tn Hadasha, a name which
must have been pretty common in Palestine, and simply means " new town."
We know that the Arabic root hadatha, c--a-^, corresponds exactly to the
Hebrew hadash 'ffi'in."" The Adasa of P' Maccabees and of Josephus must
have been one of these HadasJias : the translation 'ASacra, with loss of the
initial aspirate, being perfectly regular. This granted, I propose locating on
the site of our Hadetheh the place which was made famous by the defeat of
Nicanor by Judas Maccabeus. The various sites suggested for this by
different authorities, from the Onoinasticon downwards, in nowise fulfil the
conditions of the problem, as Adasa, according to Josephus, was thirty stadia
from Beth-horon, where Nicanor pitched his camp after leaving Jerusalem in
order to effect a junction with another portion of the Syrian army that was
coming to reinforce him. Now Hadetheh is just at this distance from Beit 'Ur
et tahta. Besides, it lies just on the road between Beth-horon and Gezer, and
we know that the Syrian army was pursued by the Jews from Adasa to Gazara.

* From observing this philological point, I have been enabled to identify, with certainty I
think, the city of Judah called Hadasha (Joshua xv, 37) mentioned along with Migdal (Gad), and
sought in vain up to the present day, with the modern village Ha/la, to the east of Mejdel and
Ascalon. This name in fact is nothing but a quite normal assimilation of Ilad/ka, Hattlia

(U.5^ = Uji5^). The transition form is already seen in the Hebrew Hazor-Hadattah, " New
Hazor." This village Haifa appears to me to occur in a medieval Act, dated 1155, of which the
original unhappily is lost, a donation made to the Hospitallers by Amaury, Count of Ascalon, of
four casals situated in the domain of Ascalon : Bethfafe, Habde, Betliamamin, and Fhaliige (Dela-
ville Leroulx, Cartul. General des Hospitallers, No. 232). I have no hesitation in identifying the
first and two last as Beit ^Affeh, Kh. Beit Mch/itri, and el Falujeh, three villages lying in a group
to the east of Ascalon. As for Habde, I am persuaded that it is none other than Hatteli, Haifa,
which forms a quadrilateral with the three other villages ; Habde is certainly a copyist's error on
the part of the author of the inventory ; the original probably had the reading Hatte, perhaps
even Hadte. The same etymology seems to me to recur in the name of Kh. Kefr Haifa, lying
a little to the north of Medjdel Yaba.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and tlie Country of Sa>nson. 7 7

Thus by its name, Its distance and its strategic position, Hadetheh appears
to me to fulfil all requirements, and I, in my turn, beg to propose a new
candidate for the disputed site of Adasa.

Bir el MdiJi. — We quickened our pace, and finally reached Bir el Ma'in
at sunset. Here we found our little camp set up by our servant, who had
come from Abu Ghosh by the straight road in five hours.

There was still daylight enough for us to distinguish at our feet, through
a gap in the mountains, the town of Ramleh, a white spot in the middle of the
deep yellow plain, and beyond it, the sandy belt of dunes.

The inhabitants received us admirably, with every token of good will.
The iidtfir of the village did us numberless small services in the way of
drawing water, buying eggs and milk, etc. Every large village in these parts
has its natur, literally "guardian." The word, which has an ancient Aramaic
physiognomy,"" comes from the root natar \^-j, "to watch, guard," whence
likewise the widespread geographical term Munldr, and also the name of the
village el Airiln, LatrCin, in its authentic primitive form Ndteriin. The
natur, whom I have also sometimes heard called ndtilr es sd/ia, "guardian of
the open space," is a sort of municipal watchman paid by the village in kind,
mostly in grain, and corresponding pretty nearly to our "garde-champetre," +
except that he has no legal status. On him devolves the duty of seeing to
the wants of the travellers and guests who are housed in the iiied/id/eh, an
institution which no self-respecting village is without.

The medhafeh ("place where guests are received," from d/icif, d/iuyuf)
is sometimes a separate room set apart for this purpose, furnished simply with
a mat crawling with vermin ; at other times, indeed as a general rule, it is the
mosque or wely of the place. One of the chief functions of the ndtur consists
in preparing the coffee which is offered to guests by the village, and which
nowadays in several places has become a means of extracting a small
baksheesh from the traveller.

Various Localities. — At supper I conversed with the kindly villagers, and
was told of Beit Ntishef, between Beit Likia and Beit Sira, also of Kh. el
Eb'idr, where a stone sandiik (sarcophagus) was to be found, and a kddus (a
large vase ?) ; and of a mountain called el Koka' to the east of Yalo (which
they pronounce Yalu) ; of Kh. Hiba to the west of the latter village, etc., etc.

* Cf N"^^132, Hebr. Taliii. t A sort of rural constable in France.

78 Archcsological Rcseai'ches in Palestine.

Next followed some curious legends : —

Legend of Neby Main and his sisters. — The mosque of Bir el Ma'in is
consecrated to Neby Main,'-' a prophet and the son of Jacob, who must be
the same as Beliavtin, otherwise called Benjamin. He is buried there in a
cave surmounted by a wooden tabbfit^ or sarcophagus. He it was that
founded Bir el Ma'in, which is sometimes also called Deir el Main. No
scorpion can enter his sanctuary without straightway dying.

When Neby Ma'in died, his five sisters hastened to come from the
Jiser Bendt Ydkfib, or " Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob," which is on the
Jordan to the south of Lake Hiileh, in order to be present at his funeral.
They all however died before reaching their destination, at different places in
the neighbourhood, where their tombs are still the object of veneration : —

1. Hanndneh or Handya, whose makam to the south-west of Neby
Ma'in is simply indicated by trees [Sarris and ballfit), a mysterious force
having overthrown every structure that it was attempted to build upon it : —

2. Zahra, buried at a spot some few minutes to the north of Bir el Ma'in ;

3. Mennda;

4. Hilriyeh, at Kefcr Lilt or Refer Rfit ;

5. Farha, to the north of el Burj.

These five daughters of Jacob, sisters of Neby Ma'in, are venerated as
holy women, and all receive the title of Sitt-nd, " Our Lady." I noticed before
in 1871I a few traces of this singular tradition: among others, that Neby
Ma'in had a brother Neby Sira, like him the son of Jacob, and buried at Beit
Sira ; but the details I gathered three years later at Bir el Ma'in, fill it in and
considerably extend it.

This region moreover teems with memories of Jacob and his more or
less fabulous descendants, whom the fellahin, as their manner is, attach to
some particular place through its name : as Neby Dan or Ddnen, at Neby
Danian; Neby 'Ur, at Beit 'Ur; Tarfin, at Beit Niiba ; Rubin and Yiida, at
Neby Rubin and el Yehiidiyeh ; Neby Kanda, in the parts about Yebna, etc.§

* The name ought really to be spelt _,j^\.^ Main, rather than .,Ajt,«, if I may trust my
ears and also the form given in the official list of the local government, which is in my possession,
t Tabbut cuS'J is the same word as the Hebrew /eba/i nan , a sarcophagus.

I See t'n/ra, Appendix.

§ All these nebys, I was told by the fellahin of Bir el Ma'in, when I pressed them on the
subject, are either the sons of Ya'kub, or descended from him (/ni/i zurriyeto). They quoted as
further instances : Neby Yihlid at Eshu\ and Neby Tdiy.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 79

I think there would be great interest in comparing these legends with
the traditions in the genealogical lists of the Books of Chronicles, which often
have a genuine topographical import. This work is particularly valuable,
from this point of view, in relation to Ephraim, for it allows us partially to fill
up the unfortunate silence of the Book of Joshua concerning the cities that
fell to this tribe.

I proved thus much some time ago by a few cases of place-names, that
topically exemplify this method and exhibit its usefulness : — •

Be'enna, a place in the neighbourhood of Lydda, represents one of the
Bible personages called Ba'ana, or BdanaJi ;

ArsfJ {Apo/lonia, in the Syro-Macedonian epoch) represents a descendant
of Ephraim called Resheph, which name, on the other hand, is identical with
that of the Phoenician god Rcshepk or Reshnph, appearing as the equivalent
of Apollo in Greco-Phoenician bilingual inscriptions ;

Beit Sira, with its Neby Sira, a son of Jacob, represents the town of
Uzzen Sheerah, "the ear of Seerah," daughter of Ephraim, etc.

It would be easy to multiply these examples by extending this method
to other regions, and to other genealogies than that of Ephraim. The land
of Moab presents a whole series of anthropo-chorographic assimilations of the
same kind. I have noted the most remarkable found in this quarter in the
Revue arcJidologique}'

To return to our Arab legend of the five daughters of Jacob, I am
inclined to think it closely related to the Biblical tradition oi^O-five daughters
of Manasseh, or rather of the five female descendants of Manasseh, by his
sons Zelophehead, Hepher, Gilead and Machir, who came to Moses and
Joshua to claim a share of the land.t These five daughters are named :
Mahlalh Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah (n2~in, Txh^, rh'xn, HiTi, rhxyd).

One of these names, No'ah, shows some signs of likeness to that of one
of the daughters of Jacob, namely Menna'a {T\V^, IAj^^), but this does not
suffice to settle the identity of the two personages. I arrive at this
conclusion by considerations of a more general nature.

We should remark, at the outset, that the Bridge of the Daughters of
Jacob, whence the five sisters started, according to the Arab legend, lies in
the direction of the territory of the tribe of Manasseh, to the south of Lake

* March, 1877. Gomorrhe, Segor, ct lesfilles de Lot.

t Numbers, xxvi, 33; xxvii, i ; xxxvi, 10; Joshua xvii, 2.

8o Archceolorical Researches in Palestine.

Huleh. This most remarkable bridge is on the high road that, for ages past,
has united Damascus with the main artery which crosses cis-Jordanic Palestine
from north to south, from Nazareth to Hebron, and from which branch forth
the principal roads that intersect the country. The idea of the travels of the
five daiigliters of Jacob has surely been inspired by these geographical
conditions.

This bridge has been built hard by an old ford of the Jordan, which is
called by Latin writers of the Middle Ages the Vadjini Jacobi, and in
Mussulman tradition the whole legend of the passage of the Jabbok by Jacob
is connected with it. The nearness of the territory of Manasseh, and, on the
other hand, the fact that the memory of Jacob has become firmly attached to
this neighbourhood, show how the confusion arose between the five daughters
of Zelophehad, Manasseh's descendants, and the five daughters of Jacob.
Besides, the name and personality of Manasseh are hardly familiar to the
Arabs ; those of Zelophehad still less, as, considering the popularity of Jacob
among them, it is quite natural that they should have transferred to him a
story that related to the descendants of his grandson. Such transferences
constantly occur in the folk-lore of the Judaea fellahin. They get hold of
three or four celebrated Bible names, and use them as pegs, so to speak, on
which they invariably hang the shreds of tradition they have preserved.
Among these names, that of Jacob occupies a front place, especially in
questions of genealogy. This is why, for instance, Sheerah, daughter of
Eph^-aini, the eponymous heroine of the town of Uzzen-Sheerah, loses both
sex and parentage in their tradition, and is transformed into Neby Stra, son
of Jacob. What we should especially consider here, is the group of the
five sisters.

I will conclude by pointing out another fact which tends to confirm this
identification. We have seen that the object of the five sisters in starting
on their journey was to be present at the funeral of their brother Neby Ma'in,
whom, as I have said above, the fellahin take to be Benjamin. Now
Benjamin, we know, is connected in the Bible with Manasseh in the closest
manner; Machir, the eldest son of Manasseh, marries a Benjaminite ;'" it is
from Jabesh Gilead,t a town of Manasseh, that the women are taken as wives
for the four hundred out of the six hundred Benjamites that had escaped the
general massacre of the tribe at Gibeah, and so on.

* I Chronicles vii, 15.

t Cf. the name of the son of Machir, which also is the name of a country, Gilead.

Toti,r f 1-0/1/ Jer/isalc/// lo Jaffa a//d the Co/i//tiy of Sa///so//. 8 1

Finally, there is a point about the five more or less fabulous descendants
of Manasseh, which invests their names with that unmistakable to/>/V character
which we noted in those of the five daughters of Jacob. The names of
four of them are actually identical with the names of four Palestine towns,
thus : —

Mahlah recalls Abel Alcho/ah, a town of Issachar;

Noah recalls Neah, a town of Zebulon ;

Hoglah recalls Beth Hoglah, a town of Benjamin ;

Tirsah corresponds to the famous Tirzah, the first capital of the kingdom
ot Israel ;

Mtlcah is the only one that has no ancient place-name corresponding to
it, at least as far as one can see.

Fro//i B/r el Md/n. — We passed a
wretched night, tormented by mosquitos.
Apparently the power of Neby Ma'in, the
dreaded of scorpions, does not extend to these
intolerable little creatures — they are beneath
him. Next morning we had a look over hi?
sanctuary, where we noticed a fine Byzantine
capital, with its four corners scooped out, and
adorned on each of its four sides with a
Greek cross surrounded by a circle.

The programme for the day included a series of small e.xplorations in
the neighbourhood of Bir el Ma'in, where I had decided to return for the
night. We started in the company of our faithful Ibrahim Ahmed and the
sheikh of the village, the latter riding his mare. I envied him this excellent
little animal, for my own horse from Jerusalem had gone lame, and played
me sorry tricks at every other step. There was no help for it but to put up
with this torture, which was to last another fortnight, and did not conduce to
make the excursion agreeable.

El Iib'idr. — I turned my steps first of all towards Kh. el J^b'tdr,
attracted by the presence of the sarcophagus we had been told of the evening
before. We arrived there after about three quarters of an hour. The place*
is situated about ten minutes walk to the north of Umm el 'Eumdan
('Amdan) ; it presents a few architectural remains, large unhewn blocks,

BIR EL MA IN.
A Capital in the Wely.

* I do not find it marked on the Map. Here are its bearings as I took them, but I do not
guarantee their correctness : Kefireh, 120°; Latrun, 197"; the Wely of el Jezery, 250'.

ArchcTo/oQica/ Researches in Palestine.

levellings, and foundations, about ten cisterns, square vats cut in the rock.
We went down into one cistern that had the shape of an elHpse, with the
opening at the end of the major axis. The alleged sarcophagus is a sort of
chest or vase carved in stone, broken, and built into the top of the wall.*

Kh. e/'Einiiddn. — At Kh. el 'Eumdan the ruins look more important,
and comprise remains of various buildings, in the shape of numerous well-
hewn blocks, lintel with a small six-leaved piece of rose-work carved in the
middle, mill-stones, cisterns, and columns or fragments of columns, which
have gained for the place its name of " Mother of columns. ' The diameter
of the columns is about o^'ss ; one, a complete one, measures 2'"'96 in
length. In the middle of these various remains we noticed five bases or
tambours of columns, standing in situ at equal distances apart, and parallel to
a wall of which the foundations alone remained ; and, at right angles to the
wall, a fragment of another wall, in the same condition, and intended evidently
to join it. Between the line of the colonnade and the wall were quantities of
mosaic cubes, showing that the ground had been originally paved with them.

ra n n 'iTr^ir-^itti'tHmwf't^sima^ %^^

O 0 yO 3 @

■

O 0

o o

fSs m a C2 a m iraBaiaaBi
Reitoratiun.

CHURCH (?) AT UMM EL 'EUMDAN. Scale, ^J^;.

Considering the orientation of the colonnade and the relative positions of
these various objects, which are all in situ, I think we have here a small
ancient church.. We may restore the missing parts symmetrically and
represent it as above.

* Sketch lost.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jeijfa and the Country of Samson.

A TRESS AT UMM EL EUMDAN.

Scale ^TH-,.

There is not a trace of the medijeval tool marks.

Further on appear two large square blocks, scooped on their inner side,
and imbedded in the rock. At first sight these would be taken for the two
jambs of a door. I rather think, however, that they are the two pillars
of a press, similar to those that we observed
some while later on in the district of Beit
Nettif.*

Bezka. — At Bezka, on the final undula-
tion of a hill, a birket of masonry, some scat-
tered blocks, ruins of houses, mill-stones and
numerous cisterns, a quantity of workings in
the rock, rectangular vats of presses, for wine
or oil.

Misled by a confused recollection of a
passage in the Arab chronicler Mujir ed Din,
I thought I recognized in Bezka a locality
mentioned by him, but on consulting the text, I saw my error. f

Kefertd. — After passing the wely of Sheikh S'liman (Suleiman) and
again satisfying ourselves that the name given to the neighbouring ruin is
really Kefertd,\ and not, as M. de Saulcy has asserted, Kufur Tab, we arrived
at Kubab.

Kubdb. — Kubab is certainly a place of some antiquity, but its real identity
has not yet been determined. It is mentioned by Mujir ed Din§ under the
name ol Kariet el Kubab, as a village of the district of Ramleh punished in
898 A.ii. by Janbulat, governor of Jerusalem, in consequence of a revolt of
the fellahin. Hence followed a struggle for power with his colleague the
governor of Gaza, who declared that the village was under his dominion.
This was the prelude to the affair of Tell el Jezer, the account of which put
me on the track of my discovery of Gezer. The inhabitants of Kubab declare
that the former name oi Kjibdb was Kabbun ^^.-V' ^"'^ that this is the form in
which it appears in the "books of the Christians." Were it not for the
radical difference between the two k?,, one would incline to believe that this
legend has reference to the CJiabbon of Joshua xv, 40.

* See iiifra.

\ I find noted in my pocket-hook a suggestion which has since been made, for the identifi-
cation of Bezka and the Bezek of the Bible.

1 See Ajjpendix. S Bulak /Xrabic text, p. 696.

.M 2

84 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Roman Inscription. — While I was looking at the houses of the village, a
peasant brought me a small piece of stone (a limestone flag) inscribed with
Latin characters. Ibrahim Ahmed had already told me of the existence of
this, and brought me a rough copy of it to Jerusalem
'C'Hf^4)lH ^"^ April. (I mention it in my Report No. 11.) I
tN Q\ y\d%\ obtained possession of it for a few piastres. All that
)V''i^' V^"^ I '^f could be made out on it was the remains of two lines,
™ f cut with some care, but too much mutilated for any

satisfactory result to be arrived at. The traces of the
ruled lines that regulated the height of the characters are still apparent.
Length of the fragment, o""'30.

The characters appear to be of the Roman period ; the reading of the first
line may perhaps be c{o)/io{rs) IX, "ninth cohort." In the second line the
first character is perhaps a sign denoting the century, followed by AR, or
ARV. . ., which may be regarded as the beginning of the name of the
centurion, accompanied, perhaps, by the number of the century, V = 5 ; then
a repetition of the sign of the century, followed by H or EI (? ?). However
this may be, it is tolerably apparent that the inscription proceeded from a
detachment of the Roman legions garrisoning Palestine and guarding the
road from Jerusalem to Jaffa. It was perhaps the same as the corps quartered
not far from there at 'Amwas {Emmaus — Nicopolis), where I discovered, a
few years later, various fragments of Roman inscriptions, among others one
mentioning a soldier of the Fifth Legion (Macedonica).'"

To this fragment found at Kubab I add the copy of another fragment,
which I quite believe has a similar origin, though, from a gap in the notes
in my field book, 1 am unable to say for certain. This also is a
piece of a Roman inscription. In the second line apparently it
is necessary to restore: [. . . v4;//^]///;//^2/[_^z^i'//] (?), and perhaps
in the first: \_kgio~\ X F\i^etensis'\ An\toniniana . . .](??).t In
this case we should have a new inscription relating to the
famous Tenth Legion (Fretensis), about the time of Caracalla, or, at the
latest, Heliogabalus.

* For this, see in Vol. I my remarks on Bettir and the Roman inscription which I discovered
there, which mentions the Fifth Legion (Macedonica) and the Eleventh (Claudia).

t We know from various monuments, notably from an inscription from Jerusalem (Zeitsclirift
des deutsclien Palastina-Vereins, X, 49, and XI, 138), that the Tenth Legion (Fretensis), like many
others, had, in fact, received the surname of Antoniniana, in honour of Caracalla.

Tour from JcntsalcDi to Jajfa and the Country of Samson.

Ancient Sepulchre. — After lunching beneath a figtree near the block-
house of Kubab, we went to examine a fine tomb quite near, which I had
already had occasion to study in 1871.

We took an exact plan of it.

A. — Perspective Sketch.

■^v;'-

B.— Plan. Scale tttti-

For the description and other details I beg to refer the reader to my account
in the Appendix.*

* There will also be found in the Appendix a sketch I made of a piece of a "donkey-back "
sarcophagus lid, which has since disappeared.

Arclucological Researches in J'a/es/ine.

It^l .■^-■■"■';i I iHi|(fe,-/ . - „- .^■■•r-('i.-.' ir''i|

C. — Section on A B.

D. — Section on C D. Scale -j-nx;.

Tell el Jezer — discovery of the first inscription. — After lunch we started
to see the inscription at Nejniet el 'Ades between Kubab and Tell el Jezer,
not far from 'Ain Yardeh (Yerdeh), which Ibrahim Ahmed had told me of
in March. On that occasion he brought me a very rough copy, mentioned
in my Report No. lo; but I could only make out the Greek letters
AAIKION, or something like it, followed by other puzzling characters. I
had an inkling of the importance of this text, and my curiosity concerning
it was keen. This impression, as will be seen, was well founded. I lay
stress on this small matter, as it shows what care ought to be observed
in gathering and verifying the smallest items of information supplied by the
peasants of Palestine, without giving way to discouragement at the deceptions
they so often involve.* To neglect them is sometimes to miss archaeological
discoveries of the greatest importance, as I shall now proceed to show.

The heat was overpowering, and the barghash drove us and our animals
to frenzy. At last we arrived at the little hill called Ahjniet el 'Ades,-[ simply

* On reading over my note books again, I find that I myself have failed to observe this
principle. Ibrahim Ahmed told me at the same time of an inscription at £eit Naki'iba, to the
east of Abu Ghosh, and quite near it. I neglected to go and verify the matter on the spot. I
acknowledge my transgression, and recommend this desideratum to tlie attention of future
explorers.

t Nejin, ncjiHih, which in literary Arabic means "stars," in peasant speech signifies "hill,
height."

To7ir from [cnisa/cm /o Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 87

from the fact that the fellahin sow lentils l^ades) there ; it is a sort of large
hump of rock. Here we had to search a long while for the inscription,
Ibrahim not remembering exactly where it was. Finally, we saw it all of a
sudden, not far from the entrance of a small rock-hewn tomb. The ridge of
rock on which it was cut was flush with the ground, lying east and west, and
almost horizontal, having a slight dip at the south end. In order to read the
characters in their proper direction, one must stand facing the north. On
taking the position of the place wath the compass, we got the following results :
the block-house at Latriin, 128°; block-house at Kubab, 79°; Deir Abu
Mesh'al, 40". I calculated that we must be about half an English mile to
the east of the Wely el Jezery, which was not visible.

The inscription was composed of five Greek letters and six square
Hebrew letters, of large size, arranged in a single line i"''85 in length.

I at once made out the Greek name AAKIO, followed by the Hebrew
name for Geser, "IW. As for the other Hebrew characters, I confess I could
not decipher them at the time. It was only after some days, on reading over
at Jaffa the copy taken down in my note book, that I all at once recognized the
word DUn, for mnn, tc/iiim, "boundary." I need not say what were my
feelings at discovering graven on the rock itself, the decisive confirmation of
the identification which I had proposed three years before to establish
between the town of Gezer and this place. (See Appendix.)

Of course I took good care not to betray to the fellahin accompanying
us what value I attached to this precious text. I confined myself to taking an
exact copy of it, intending to come back after our tour was over to study the
ground thoroughly, and clear up the various questions that might be raised or
settled by this discovery. The inscription was too large to admit of our
taking a squeeze of it with the rudimentary appliances at our disposal.
Meanwhile M. Lecomte was kind enough to take a drawing of it by means of
the camera lucida. Accurate reproduction, together with some more ex-
planatory details, will be found in Chapter V, which deals w'ith Gezer.

Local Hints. — We made rather a long halt at Nejmet el 'Ades. It
was a quarter to six when we left the spot where the inscription was.
However our day had not been wasted.

I gathered the following information in conversation with the fellahin : —

The Tamuir of the Deluge is between 'Ain Yardeh and Abu Shiisheh
(the village of Tell el Jezer) ;

A carved inscribed stone was to be found in the wely of Mfisa Ta/i'a
(not far from Abu Shusheh to the south) ;

88 Arclucokwical Researches in Palestine.

^i>

At el Burj (which we were to visit next day) were some " bronze cups "
which had been found in the earth ;

About a quarter of an hour's journey before you get to Budros (to the
north of el Medieh), there were paintings (frescoes) representing "a goose
and a serpent ;"

At Beit Nettif there was a cave with an inscription above the entrance
and some ancient pottery.

Bab el Haim. — On our way back to Bir el Ma'in we passed by Bab
el Hatoa, close to and to the west of Kk. Bai-ada, and noticed there a
millstone and a sort of press of a quite remarkable round shape with tv/o
basins (?) hollowed in the rock.

K/i. Barada. — At Kh. Barada (a few minutes from 'Ajenjul) is a low,
flat hill ; on the top, a small birkeh hewn in the rock, and some extensive
ruins comprising corners of the foundations of houses, rough blocks, cisterns
hollowed out in the rock, large surfaces marked out by walls, rubble
cores of walls, mosaic cubes, and a rock-hewn sepulchre. Also, the
foundations of a building which in its original shape probably assumed
an octagonal or hexagonal form. Three sides of this were recognizable.

Kh. es Sider. — To the south, about twenty minutes from Bir el Ma in,
is the ruin of Kh. es Sider (^,a>-!V).

Btr el Main. — The night we spent at Bir el Ma'in was hardly better
than the one before it. Next morning I opened and examined a tomb,
situated not far from the wely to the north-east. It was a chamber of
irregular shape hollowed out in the rock, with two burial troughs constructed
with the aid of well cut slabs. The two troughs are not placed parallel, but
making an angle of about 50 degrees. In the middle of the troughs is a
column roughly hewn, surmounted by a rough-carved chapter, and resting on
a base of more careful workmanship, the whole being intended to support
the roof. Above it on the outside the rock bears marks of cutting.
Some fukkhdr (lamps or vases of terra cotta) are said to have been found
there.

Varions Local Notes. — After this we took leave of our hosts at Bir el
Ma'in, but not before I had gathered some items of information, which
I here append. One of them, as will be seen, is of uncommon interest :

Between Kesla and Deir el Hawa, at E'rak Isma'in is an enormous

cave ;

Between 'Amwas and Deir Aiyub is a ruin called Kh. el'Aked; near
Deir Aivub, to the east, are the ruins of Kh. Inkib ;

Tour from Jcrusaloii io Jaffa and the Coiiiilry of Samson. 89

To the south of Deir Aiyub are cl Khanimdra and el K/iatilie/i, with a
number of presses.

To the west of Beit Mahsir is Dcir Selldm ;

Further on, el Metsiyeh or el Meiydseh.

Ethnic Names. — As my custom is, I collected a number of ethnic names.
I had long since noted the extreme importance of these names, which have
often preserved for us forms more archaic than the names of the places
themselves. This subject has been hitherto entirely neglected, but it is of
the highest importance, as we shall see.

I was told that the people of Abu Ghosh were called 'Enbdwy {yiX^);
in the plural, 'Etiawbeh (<u.Uj;). So far there is nothing extraordinary ; the
ethnic is evidently taken, in regular fashion, from the real name of the village,
which is Kariet cl 'Enab.

But being curious enough to inquire, in speaking of this, the ethnic name
of the inhabitants of el Medieh, where I intended to go in order to clear up the
question of Modin and the tomb of the Maccabees, I was told : Midndvjy
(i-^jl)j*.<) ; in the plural, Meddwneh (aj.lj*^). This name, as may well be
supposed, made me prick up my ears, showing us as it does an archaic form
of the place-name, which could not have been suspected from its modern
shape Mediek ; Midndwy and Meddwneh have preserved with great exactness
the old name Modin with the n that is wanting in Medieh. This is assuredly
a decisive and important argument in favour of identifying this locality with
the town of Modin. Henceforth I shall note carefully, as I proceed with
these researches, all ethnic names I may succeed in collecting, I earnestly
beg future explorers to follow 'this example, and thus to furnish materials
for a complete list of the ethnics of Palestine. I feel sure it will afford
instruction ; occasionally, even a revelation.

Here are a few to begin with, that I gathered at Bir el Ma'in itself, when
the conclusion which that of el Medieh had suggested to me had put me in a
humour for the search : —

Beit Niiba : Nubdny, plural Nawdb'neh.
Beit Likia : Likidny, plural Lekdineh.
Bir el Ma'in : AJi'day, plural Meyd"tieh.
el Burj : Barrdjy. jjlural Barrdjeh,

go ArchicoloQ;ical Researches ni Pa/esfiue.

Berfilia : nerfily, plural Fcchdk'leh*

Deir Aiyub : plural Deyarheli.

Kesla : Kesldwy, plural Sekdwnelt or Sekkdzone/iA

Sif/iid Zahra. — \ sent the servant on ahead to Lydda with the tent, and
we set off.

We first went to have a look at the rather unimportant niakam Sittnd
Zahra, which lies quite near the village on the north. 1 have already narrated
the legend which attaches to it. From here we deviated southwards in the
direction of Yalo, as I wished to make a detailed inspection of that place.

Legend of el Fdrdeh. — W'e again passed through Barada. A few
minutes to the south is the ridge of a tell, covered with blocks of Bint and
fragments of the same stone arranged in small heaps, and called cl Fdrdeh.
The fellahin, if I rightly understood their explanations, take this to mean
"the wedding party. "J I append the quaint legend attached to it; though,
as it is not easy to relate in decent language, I hope I shall be excused for
taking refuge in allusion. It has, however, its interest, as it belongs to a
cycle of traditions widely spread in Palestine, relating to peoples changed into
stone. A young girl from the mountain of Abu Ghosh was once conducted
to the Jaffa country to be married, accompanied by all her belongings, men,
women, and children. The nuptial caravan halted on arriving at el Far'deh.
There a young child was obliged to satisfy a certain natural want, and its
mother had the strange idea of using a rghif (the thin fiat bread of the
Arabs) for the purposes of a napkin.

The Almighty, angered at this sacrilege, changed the whole caravan into
fiint. All the blocks that are to be seen in the vicinity are the people
metamorphosed by this miracle. The Arab legend employs for " metamor-
phose " the verb sakhat, and this throws light on the etymology of names like
maskhTtta, inasdkhit, which are lound attached to several localities in Palestine.

* Here, as sometimes happens, the plural of the ethnic must have been taken from another
locality. In this case it is a valuable indication of old migrations of the indigenous populations,
who have taken along with them the names of their place of origin. 'J'he importance of this fact
is easy to grasp ; it has to be taken seriously into account in considering the possibility of a
place-name having been transferred from another locality.

t The same remark applies. Further on will be found the historical explanation of this
instructive anomaly.

X It is projjerly "the wedding procession" Cf. i Maccabees, ix, 36, se<]., the tragic
episode of the wedding procession of the sons of Janibri of Medaba.

Tour from fern salcvi to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 91

It is probable that these form the subjects of similar legends. I found
almost the same tradition localized in the environs of Mal'ha {see Vol. I).*

Ydlo.—On reaching Yalo, or Yalu, I went straight to the hill of el Kok'a
(Kokah), as its name and position, after all the fellahin had said to me about
it, kept me in a state of expectation.

El Kok'a. — The original form of the name, it appears to me, was
el Kok'a, with an 'ani at the end certainly, but I am not sure whether it was
h6,: or i^<^<. It is a mound of earth like a regular tell, seeming to have been
subjected to human action, even if it
is not entirely artificial. It is in the
shape of a truncated cone, with a plat-
form on the top. It overlooks Yalo

towards the south-east, and, as seen from Yalo, presents an outline pretty
nearly corresponding to this hasty sketch that I took of it.

I think that some interesting excavations might be made there, and might
perhaps afford some evidence as to the identity, a very probable one, between
Yalo and Ajalon. On the side of the hill on which the mound is, a number
of entrances to caverns, of more or less regularity, are visible. Some fukli-
khdrs, the inhabitants say, have been found there.

'Ai7t el Ixubbeh. — Running to the east from the foot of the hill that bears
the Tell of el Kok'a, is a little valley called Wddy Kubbeh, containing an
important spring covered in with a series of vaults. The building, of which
these form part, is almost entirely gone in its upper part, but the substructure
is well preserved.

It is a vast reservoir built of fine w^ell-dressed blocks of ancient appear-
ance. The vaults are covered on the outside with large slabs, on which there
was doubtless erected the building which to-day is in ruins. The three
arches are pointed, with key-stones. At the back are seen three semicircular
ones, doubtless of older date and contemporary with the walls. If you
descend into the reservoir by the staircase constructed at one corner, the
spring is visible on the right, issuing from beneath a smaller arch also semi-
circular. This forms the end of a conduit by which, so the fellahin say, it
communicates with another spring further to the south, called el Beiydra

* This same legend was afterwards noted, with details that vouch for its accuracy, by
Mr. Baldensperger in his excellent study of the folk-lore of Palestine {Quarterly Statement, 1893,
p. 209. Cf. p. 211). It is a curious fact that the characteristic feature of the "petrified wedding
parties'' is not unknown in Western folk-lore {cf. Reriic are/ieotogit/iie. May-Jime, 1893, p. 356).

N 2

92 Arclurolooical Researches in Pales fine.

("the garden watered by a well"). The former is called 'Ain el Kitbbeh,
evidently deriving its name from the vaulted structure {Imbbeh, "cupola").

Accordinsj to the inhabitants the reservoir had been full of water, but
about ten days before our visit it got lower. This had laid bare the inner
walls, covered with traces of reddish infusoria like those I observed two
months before at Bir el Helii, which at first sight have the deceitful appearance
of small odd shaped characters written in red ink.

Plan.

Seclion on A-B.

Stction on r-D

SPRING IN' \V. KUBBEH, AT YAI,i">. Scale -jJ;^.

The Beiydra. — The Bciydra, which we next visited, is a splendid wide-
mouthed well of spring water, circular in shape, and built of hewn stones.
It is precisely similar to Bir el Helu, which lies in the direction of Latrun,
consequendy quite near this one. The two wells display the same mode of
construction and must be of the same date. According to the fellahin, there
is a subterraneous communication between the Beiyara and the Kal'ah, that is
now to occupy our attention.

El Kal'ah. — We looked over the village proper to find the Kal'ah, "the
fortress "and the " prison " of the Kuffars that I had been told of. Local

Tour froDi fcriisalciu to fnffci and tJic Country of Samson. 93

tradition has it that Yalo was formerly completely surrounded by a wall {sur),
and I was shown some fine large blocks said to have formed part of this, and
appearing in some cases to be in situ. I only noticed one stone at Yalo that
bore the mediaeval tool-marking of the Crusading epoch.

We were taken to the Habes bint el nielek, as it is called, or " the prison,
or cell of the King's Daughter." It is at the present day an underground
structure of carefully dressed stone, with double semicircular arches. On the
ground itself are still visible thick cores of masonry stripped of their covering
of hewn stone. In the courtyard of the adjacent houses are some large pillars,
and two courses of a thick wall. The whole of this, so the fellahin say.
formed part of the ancient Kascr or "castle." In this "castle" lived a
" Christian " king, the King: of Yalo. The Mussulmans, under the command
of el Melek ed Dhaher (the Sultan Beibars) came and besieged him there.
The daughter of the king advised him to take earth from below to make
bastions for the cannon {sic) on el Kok'a. It was unfortunate that I could
only get an imperfect account of this legend, for it probably contains, in
rudimentary shape, some useful indications. In any case, it seems to point
to the construction of works on the tell of el Kok'a, and this corresponds to
my impression that this tell is in part at any rate of artificial origin.

Various N'otcs. — The inhabitants confirmed a tradition that I picked up for
the first time in 1871, and which had been repeated to me later, that Yalo
was called Lii/ich by the Christians ; here I was told Lftlo.

Four different sanctuaries were nientioned as being in the village: Sheikh
Isniatn, Sheikh EU retch {^Sj -0' Sheikh Gharib, and the mosque of el 'Aniery.

To the south of Yalo is seen a brow of a mountain called JVar Krcikur.

In the same direction, a protuberance on the hill where the tell is pro-
duces a kind of rocky knoll called el Ek'meilcmeh.

Further on, and above el Ek'meik'meh, is iha Jebel I\ reikilr, bounded on
the east by the road that starts from the south of Yalo, and on the west by the
Jchcl e.z Zelldka {}Sl-\

To the west between the Zellaka and Yalo lies el Mostdh, a small hill of
slight elevation, devoted to the growing of vines and fig trees. A little
further on, to the west, is Kh. el Hawd.

As we left Yalo, my attention was called to Bir el Jebbdr, to the south-
west. Here was a small arch, of no great antiquity apparently, with steps
underneath leading down to the water.

Between Yalo and Kh. Hiba, to the right of our road, we noticed a place
where the rocks were thrown about in confusion and shivered into fragments.

Arch(coloo;ical Researches in Palestine.

The spot is called Bassat 'Abbas, and is said to have been struck by lightning
some ten years before.* This fact, if true, may serve perhaps to explain the
disordered state of the rocks at dilferent places in Palestine.

At Kh. Hiba were broken-down walls, foundations, rock-hewn caves, and
a large well built of masonry, after the manner of those at el Beiyara and el Held.

Here I dismissed my old friend Ibrahim Ahmed of Abu Ghosh, as he
had got rather tired out. We arranged to pick him up when we came through
Bir el Ma'in on our way back. I took for guide a fellah Ibrahim Mahmud,
from Yalo, where we came across him in the fields harvesting. He had donned
a great leather apron, and looked rather like a kind of European peasant, it
did one good to look at him. He was a very good fellow, extremely quick
and helpful.

Rds el Ekra'. — He conducted us to the Rds el Ekrci (; j^Jl), pronounced
almost Rds lekra\ a hill situated quite near 'Amwas to the north-north-east of
it, and separated from it by the KlialFt el Hainiiidin. This rocky hill contains
several ancient tombs, and seems to have been one of the burying-grounds of
old Nicopolis.

ROCK-CUT TOMB NEAR 'AmWAS.

* Cf. supra, p. 69, where the same fact is mentioned, relating perhaps to the same place
(called by the inhabitants of Beit Thiil, Dhahr el Hiiteh).

Tour from /cr/isa/ciii lo fiifja iind the Country of Samson.

_3Vii^.a<2>it;."'" 4ii.«^jjjia!>'*i-

^3.iJ^.Llie!i«il!'-s'*i^'«^^^_.^■'•

Ancient Sepulchre. — One of these tombs is quite remarkable.'" The
engraving above will give an idea of its external aspect.

The tomb has a small square door cut in the rock, which is still almost
entirely closed by an enormous flat stone, i"'6o high and proportionately
thick, made to slide vertically along the side of the rock, like a regular trap-
door, concealing or e.xposing the opening as required. This stone is square
at the base and rounded at the top. In the upper portion it is pierced with a
large round hole to admit the rope or the lever by which it was worked. In
front of it is a kind of narrow passage without a top, consisting of two rows
of blocks carefully hewn, and leading to the vestibule, which is hollowed out
in the side ot the hill and to the entrance proper. The trajxloor was
meant to slide between the blocks and the rock itself.

It was slightly raised
above the ground. By dint of • • . , V

great exertions we managed
to crawl on our stomachs,
between it and the threshold.
The opening was only o™'30
high, and the feat was ren-
dered the more arduous by
the earth heaped up outside.
Passing through a small
gallery of no great length,
we descended two steps cut
in the rock, and found our-
selves inside a chamber, an
irregular trapezoid in shape.
The staircase brings you to
one of the corners.

The first objects we distinguished by the light of our candle were a
fine scorpion and a monster of a spider. These we hastened to slay. The
establishment being cleared of these inmates, we were able to look about us
more calmly. The left wall forms a right angle with that at the back, but the
right wall, on the contrary, forms with it an angle of considerable acuteness,

-ri.AN ON IIIK I.IMC .\ 1!, Al THE HEIGHT uF K.
Scale Jn-

* I cannot indicate its position with precision, there being no landmarks in sight. However,
I noted one bearing, viz., of 300° with the wely of Sheikh S'liman (Suleiman) (to the north of
Kubab).

Arclueolooical Researches in Palestine.

jfi

B. — GENliKAL I'LA.N.

C. — SECTION ON A B.

1). — SECTION ON CI). Scale -fx[(f.

Tour frovi Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 97

and a right angle with the fourth wall. This is very short, and joins the
staircase in a slanting direction.

In each of the walls is hollowed out an arcosolium, covering a burial-
recess. In the recesses some bones were still to be seen. The floor of the
chamber was filled up with earth, to what depth we were unable to make out.
The tomb must have been rifled by treasure-seekers, who have left indications
of their presence in the shape of marks of tools on the walls.

All the inner walls are covered with a very thick layer of excellent plaster,
a sort of concrete mixed with pebbles. This is covered with
a coat of red paint. All round the top of the walls there
rims a cornice of moulded mortar. I give here a profile of it.

On examining the back of the arcosolium opposite the
entrance, at the point marked n on the plan, I discovered a

line of Greek characters, which appear to have been engraved V____

while the mortar was still fresh. They remind one very much of i\\& graffiti
in the Tombs of the Prophets already mentioned.* The line is about a yard
in length. I took a squeeze and a copy.

The characters are very difiicult to decipher, especially at the beginning
of the line, as the plaster is in such a bad state. The end alone can be read
with certainty, .... ev;^^ Travre^ Xeyovcnv " . . . . prayer, all say." Ev^t is an
iotacism for ev)(y], "prayer," or ev)(-§, "at prayer," or ev^rj, "prayers." The
latter form, though ev-^o? is rather rare in prose, would have the advantage of
giving an immediate object to the verb. At the beginning, I sometimes feel
inclined to read Ke, X, aKove to. ... . " Lord, Christ, hear the prayers ....;"
but this is very doubtful. I ought to mention that the engraving does not
always reproduce exactly the outlines of the original, which are confused
enough. In any case the inscription, from the shape of the characters, is
certainly Christian, and dates from the time when this ancient tomb was
converted and its present decoration added.

K/i. en Neby Main. — From here we returned to Bir el Ma'in, where we
picked up Ibrahim Ahmed, with the view of going to el Medieh by way of
el Bjirj.

* Vol. I.

Archa:ological Researches in Palestine.

Y//\

-Il|l^^i''ilii|l!^';|:'«Hi..,,.|n!,'!
ON A I.INTEL IN A HOUSE AT EL BURJ.

About twenty minutes to the north-west of Bir el Ma'in is Kh. en Neby
McCtn, containing some considerable ruins. I was told that a stone with an
inscription was to be found there, but we did not come across it.

El Burj. — The real name of el Bmj \s BtirJ el Main, and the village is

closely connected with that of Bir el
Ma'in. It contains several sanctuaries,
among others that of the patriarch Seth
{Neby Skil), the ruins belonging to a
fortress and called Tauiura, and the
remains of a tower and fortress appa-
rently of the time of the Crusades. We
also noticed a fine Byzantine lintel with a
Greek cross inscribed in a circle, and
having its four arms ornamented with a
curious triangular facet-work.
The people brought us a cup and a small vase, both of bronze, said to
have been found in a neighbouring tomb. But the price asked was so
extravagant that I gave up the idea of acquiring them. I much regret that
we were not able even to make a drawing of them.

El Medieh. — At el Medieh we made a fruitless search for an inscription
I had been told about. I saw that it was impossible to undertake at the time
the digging operations I had projected, as all the corn was still standing, and
not a sod could be turned before harvest was over. I made all the necessary
arrangements for proceeding with the excavations later on, while joining the
fellahs at their meal of roasted grain {f'rika), which is reckoned a delicacy
among them, and recalls a custom mentioned in the Bible (Leviticus ii, 14;
xxiii, 14).

After this I dismissed my two guides, and we set out for Lydda,
accompanied by a small boy from el Medieh. After a while, however, when
he saw the sun setting, he left us, saying he was afraid of being eaten by the
hyenas on the way back. It was pitch dark when we got to Lydda, where
we found our tent at the Sd/ia el Gharbiyeh, near the sdkia, which was
surrounded by herds brought there for water.

Lydda.
At Lydda we made a halt of four days, which we spent in making a
detailed study of the ancient churches, the bridge of Beibars, the mosque and
ancient church of Ramleh, etc. ; in looking up certain remains of antiquity, and

Tour from Jcnisalem to Jaffa and the Coiintry of Samson. 99

in gathering information from the inhabitants. I came across my old friend
the camel-driver, Abu Hanna Daud el Hausary. He had been very useful to
me when I first stayed at Lydda, and on this occasion also he did me great
service, with never failing intelligence.

Miscellaneous Notes. — I shall begin here by giving, for what they are
worth, such small observations as I was enabled to make from my intercourse
with the natives of Lydda. They relate in some cases to Lydda itself, or
the country round, in others to more distant localities :

The ancient name of Lydda was Elcfeir el Leudd II! I ^^r^;*

A saying of the natives of Lydda (with a pun on the name Lendd) : El
Leudddwiyeh nndaddedeh, "the people of Lydda are quarrelsome" (?) ;

The well of Bir el Talak (jil?) , which lies behind the church, is said to
be connected with it by a subterraneous passage ;

A few minutes south-east of the church a house is shown where el
Khadkcr (St. George) is said to have been born ;

In a garden where there is a large well, about two hundred and twenty
yards to the south-west of the minaret of the mosque, local tradition points
out the site of an ancient Convent of St. Michael {Deir Mar Mikai'l) ;

People told me of a Bir Mar Elyds, " well of St. Elias," without giving
precise indications of its position ;

To the south of the mosque is a pond called el Manka Ua-* ;

The well with a sebil, situated about half-way between Lydda and
Ramleh, is called Bir ez Zibak (jjoj!\), '" the well of quicksilver ; "

The ancient building el M'zeira is the sanctuary of Neby Yakia (St.
John the Baptist) ;

At Medjdel Yaba there is a large stone covered with unknown writing ;
one Anthimos is said to have copied it in part ;

To the north-west of Lydda, at about an hour's distance, is a certain
KJi. Snbtai'a (ijlkx-:) on a small tell ;

About half-an-hour to the east of Lydda is a locality called Kh. ed/i
DJiheiriyeh ;

Between 'Akkur and Kesla is a place called Beit Sakkaya. The people
of Kesla originally came from there, and that is why their ethnic name is in
the plural Sakkmvneh,\ while the singular is regularly formed, Kesldicy ;

* See further, for another legend connected with this name,
t See above, p. 90.

O 2

lOO

Archccolog-ical Researches in Palestine.

The ethnic of Na'hn is N a liny, in the plural Nddr-we ; that of Jaffa is

Mindwy ;*

The ancient name of el K'ntseh, to the north of Lydda, was Kufiirjennis ;
There is another Sarfand about an hour to the south-west of the present
villao-e of that name. It is called Sarfand el Khardb, "Sarfand the ruined."
According to native tradition Sarfand is a modern name, the old name having
been Sarf el mdl,\ " the money expense or exchange " (,_j^), or Beled es
Sardrfeh, " the country of the money-changers." This curious legend must
point to the ancient name and an ancient ethnic of Sarphat. There is also
the pronunciation Snrfand ;

About an hour and a half or two hours to the west of Sarfand, forty
minutes from Yazur,| are the ruins of "Ayiin Kara (l^U). "the springs of
Kara." It was an important town, and once the seat of a bishopric, according
to Greek local tradition. It lies on the old road to Gaza ;

At el Bireh (to the north of Jerusalem) there is an ancient inscription
built into the base of the south wall of the ruined church. It is hidden by a

large pomegranate tree.

Various Antiquities. — I now arrive at my archseo-
/ 1 logical researches properly so called.

Near our encampment, to the west of the church,
in the keran of 'Osman, five or six stone sarcophagi
had been found, of different lengths. We saw one that
had been overturned, with a bee-hive upon it. The sar-
cophagi were grouped so as to form a square. Lamps
and vessels of terra-cotta and glass phials have been dis-
covered there ; and in one of them an iron pick. The owner has had a new
handle put to this latter, and uses it, though it is terribly rusty.

IRON riCK.

* From mind, "a harbour," which is nothing but the Greek word \t/iijv (pronounced /i/nin),
which has passed into Arabic through the Aramaic n:0^, NJ'C^ = Iaa^II ; I'miiia, erm'ina. In this
word, by a popular error, the cl has come to be regarded as the article, and so a separable portion
of the word, El-mina. YakOt gives the ethnic Yafihiy, which takes us directly back to the
Hebraic form Japho.

t See further, what is said of the use of this expletive word iiuil in other place-names in
Palestine. On the other side of the Dead Sea, between Wady Mojeb and Karak, is another
place of the same name, Sarfat el tiidl. This also must be probably an ancient Sarphal of the
Moabites, which has more faithfully kept to its primitive name.

% Sic. These estimates of distance are erroneous, as will be seen further on.

Tour from Jcrttsalcni to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. loi

I came across a piece of carving that I had seen in 1871,* built in
over the door of the house of Jiries el Hakura; M. Lecomte made a drawing
of it.

BASE Ul" MI.I.AR.

CARVED STONE.

He likewise drew a large moulded base which I noticed among the build-
ing materials gathered together in view of the enlargement of one of the
soap-works {^masbana) of the town.

In the Greek convent two fine small marble
columns have been placed at the top of the staircase.
Their shafts are ornamented with delicate carving
from end to end three-quarters of the way round.
These must have been dwarf angle-columns belonging
to a small structure such as a baptistery or a ciborium.
They come, they assured me, from the convent of St.
John on the banks of the Jordan. Here is a sketch
showing the scheme of the ornamentation.

I saw a score or so of fine Byzantine gold coins
in the possession of an inhabitant of Lydda, one
Mehfuz Habesh, which must have formed part of
some great find at Lydda or in the neighbourhood.
In spite of the reserve maintained by the owner, I
should not be surprised if this find were the one that
was mentioned to me, with an air of mystery, in 1871,
by a fellah of Neby Danian who served me as guide.*

See further, Appendi.\.

I02 Archccoloo;ical Researches in Palestine.

The Mosque and Churches of Lydda.

On first visiting Lydda, in March, 1870, I had made various archa;o-
logical observations of great importance in the ancient Crusaders' church,
then in ruins, and in the mosque adjoining. These observations were the
more noteworthy at the time, as it would have been possible, by their aid,
to decide bej'ond doubt between the contradictory assertions of the Greek
and Latin communities at Jerusalem as to the origin of this church, and the
historical arguments for attributing it to one or other of these two communities.
I discovered: — (i) A series of masons' marks and tracks of the mediaeval
tool-marks on all the stones of the church, which, putting aside all considera-
tions of style, was material proof that it has been built from top to bottom by
the Crusaders ; (2) that there existed, incorporated in the structure of the
adjacent mosque, an ancient Byzantine church of earlier date than the
mediaeval church, which latter had its south wall touching it ; (3) a long
Greek inscription cut on one of the columns of the mosque, and belonging to
the Byzantine church aforesaid.

I had also proved historically, with the aid of a passage from Mujir
ed Din, which hitherto had been misunderstood, that the church of the
Crusaders had been destroyed by Saladin, while the Byzantine church had
been respected, at least in part, and had been transformed into a mosque,*
a high minaret being added.

This minaret is the one that is visible at the present day ; it is built
over one of the embedded pillars of the south aisle of the mediaeval church
(m on the plan which will be given further on). Here follows a drawing
of it made by M. Lecomte, from the top of the terrace of the mediaeval
church of St. George.

This church has been restored by the orthodox Greeks, to whom it was
finally handed over by the Ottoman government, although, from the strictly
historical point of view, it was the mosque itself, formerly a Byzantine church,
which they might have been justified in claiming, and not the church called
after St. George, which is indubitably of Western origin.

On examining the engraving, the reader will notice at the base of
the minaret the remains of one of the arches of the south aisle of the church
of the Crusaders, which, as I have said, abutted on the north wall of the
Byzantine church.

* Mujir ed Din says, in no many words, that the mosque was an ancient church " of Greek
structure " (w/« bind cr Ri'im).

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and f he Cojiutry of Samson. roj

MIXARF.T ANI) ANCIENT CHURCH AT LVDDA.

I04

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Here are clearly distinguishable : —

(i) A piece of wall containing a pointed arch, now filled in, with a
chamfered label-mould, resting on a moulded cornice, the whole having
doubtless formed part of the inner side of the southern boundary-wall of the
mediaeval church. There is still distinguishable, in the tympanum of the
arch, the right-hand reveal of an original window formed in it, and looking
on to the southern outer wall, together with the base of one of the dwarf
columns which must have been on either side of it.

(2) At right angles to this wall, the springing stones of a transversal
massive rib of the south aisle. This also has a label-mould, and rests on the
same moulded cornice, which turns at right angles. One can still distinguish
the capitals of the half-column which takes this arch.

The cornice, the capitals, the shape of the column, and the mouldings
are identically the same as those seen in the remainder of the church before
the disfigurement caused by the restoration.

I give here a side and front elevation of the middle part of this minaret
(an old buttress, or belfry), together with some cor-
bels (of a watch-tower).

In order to throw as much light as possible on
the whole question, we made, with the greatest
care, a general plan of the church and the mosque
with its outbuildings. This plan, and the letterpress
accompanying it,* absolve me from entering into
further explanations.

Neglecting the two parts that are more lightly
shaded, and represent the portions added in ancient
times by the Mussulmans, and quite recently by the
Greeks, the two old churches are seen at a glance
lying side by side. Any one with a sense of sym-
metry can supply the missing portions : characteristic traces of them are
to be found in different parts, even in the courtyard of the mosque.t

Front view.

Side '

MINARET OF THE MOSQUE.

Scale -_l^.

* Compare the plan published in the Revue Archcologiqiie for March-April, 1892, p. 226,
by M. Mauss, whose conclusions coincide nearly with ours.

t In addition to the half-column of the southern boundary-wall of the mediaeval church,
underneath the minaret, and the remains of three other similar features in the northern boundary-
wall, shown on the plan, in the courtyard of the mosque, I find in my note-book an entry tending
to show that beneath the Arab pillar of one of the three arched chambers which extend along
the west side of the courtyard, there are also apparently remains of a medieval pillar; this
pillar (s) is in a line with the southern row.

'C^.

LXBD A.

Medi/eval Church ofS"^George
Byzantine Church & Mosque.

A Colwma. ui^ Greek Inscription.

6 Month of a. CCstem.

C Traces of a^ UtfJf' Jpsis oCwliirh apart of

the ktilf (hpoLa still aci^Ls.
U^^tairs l^cuhng t<:> the Oypt of the Church-
F Entrance to the Chiu^ch
G -Entrance to the Mosq^ue .

REFERENCE.

Scale 330

Toitr from [ci-iisakm to Jaffa and the Count rv of Samson. lO;

The most interesting spot, and the one to which I would more particu-
larly direct attention, is that near the point m, together with the adjacent
portions of the building, for this is where the Byzantine and the mediaeval
church can be seen touching, and even partly running into one another. At
M also there is visible, overlooking the courtyard of the mosque, a fragment of
the inner side of the southern boundary-wall of the mediaeval church, still
preserved to a considerable height with the column entire, comprising base,
the half-engaged shaft, capital, cornice, and springs of the arch of the bay with
label-mould.* I give an elevation and a plan of the base of this half-pillar.

p,l.

., v.^\

. : 1 '

Mm ^

TLAN

mmmm

KASES OF PILLARS AT LYDPA. Scale ■^.

I give for comparison the elevation and plan of the base of the pillar (o)
of the middle northern row (composed of two engaged columns). The pillar
itself has recently been restored by the Greeks.

It will be noticed that the diagonal mediaeval tool-marking is very con-
spicuous.

This portion of mediaeval structure is connected with an ancient wall (ii),
certainly of earlier date, which extends eastward from the half-pillar in the
same straight line. This wall is made of stones splendidly dressed, showing
no trace of mediaeval tool-marking, and is pierced by a large square door,
two-thirds of which have been closed up with rough masonry.

This door leads to a large chamber built in the shape of an oblong

* Compare above (p. 103) the drawing of the minaret, which is partly founded on this
fragment of wall.

io6

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

square, and vaulted with pointed arches. The whole of the east wall of this
chamber and the inner side of the south wall, but this only to a certain depth.

are of mediceval construction, as is shown by
the cutting of the blocks. The eastern wall
is pierced by a high narrow door, blocked
up by rubble of modern date two-fifths of the
way up, and surmounted by a loophole win-
dow. Here follows a tranverse section
of this chamber from p to Q, showing the
details of the eastern side.

The southern face is not of mediaeval
construction ; the dressing of the stone is
Byzantine, I believe, but not so old as that
on the north side where the large door is.
Here is the elevation of part of the north
side seen from the inside of the chamber, together with the detail of the
pilasters supporting the lintel, and a section of the lintel itself: —

4;., . ■pi>//,-^y///,
\"//^--//,Y.r

A. Elevation of the door.

B. Detail of the left pilaster.

C. Detail of the right pilaster.

D. Cross section of the lintel marked L (in the engraving A).

Scale ^V-

As appears from the plan, three different styles of dressing the stone meet
and intersect at the north-east corner of this chamber,
corresponding to three periods, and probably to three
distinct buildings: (i) the ancient proto-Byzantine
style ; (2) the deutero-Byzantine ; (3) the mediceval.

On the western and southern sides of this chamber
there rest the deutero-Byzantine constructions, now
merged in the mosque proper. They belong to a
church with a deep apse, which is characteristic of the Greek cult, lit by a
window opening on the east, as the ancient Christian rite required. I give a
longitudinal section of this apse, taken from K to l.

' ii Hi h \

'^Mmmmmmmkmm.

'^cale 4{>do •

Tovr from Jerusalcv! to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 107

Scale

To the south of this central apse we found, at c (plan), at the side of the
main apse, traces of a smaller one, having a part
of the half cupola still existing. The following
elevation, from i to j, shows the aspect and
relative position of the large and small apses. |

West of the apse, and south of an Arab ~':
pillar, one can still perceive in the flags, at the
point marked b, an orifice which may belong to a cistern, or perhaps to a
crypt like the one under the transept of the mediaeval church.

The Greek inscription that I discovered in 1870 is carved on the shaft
of one of the twin columns at the point marked a on the plan. These are
monoliths of marble, engaged in a square Arab pillar, and are probably /«
sitti, like the two others found imbedded in the other pillar that lies to the
west of this latter and in the same line with it. They are surmounted by
capitals in the degenerate Corinthian style.

The inscription, which consists of nine lines, is carved right at the top of
the shaft, immediately below the capital, and is difficult to make out from
below, the more so as it has been hammered over. Furthermore, the ends of
the lines are concealed by the Arab pillar in which the column is imbedded.
With some difficulty I obtained authorization to take to pieces a part of the
Arab pillar, on condition of setting it up again immediately afterwards as it
was before. In this way I managed to uncover the inscription completely
and took a tolerably good squeeze of it.

The following reproduction of the inscription has been executed from
this squeeze and the copy that I made in 1871 and completed in 1874.

i-0ineNnpo

enpevGRNTec

HGT6®CnAAAl>^
TOVXRICTOIRM

ii:Oy#ToyAeGNNo
KAnnoniGANTec

-ONAeTONAKn
JlONJLOMON^^

+ Oi /xev TTpo-
ehpevaavTi.<;
dcrreo'; TraXai
rov 'KpLCTTokajj.-
Tr{p)ov Tov Be crep.i'o-
TTOtjaeVe?,'"'
KaWoTTicravTe?
[t^ov Se TOV Xap.-
[^rrpjov So/xoj'.

* Cf. the analogous but obscure compound acfii'ojjo'/mov, Waddington, Iitscript. grecqiies et
/atiiies de la Syn'e, No. 2443.

io8

Arch(eological Re scare lies in Palestine.

" The worshipful pastors who sit at the head of this city, for long time
past illuminated by Christ (of this old and illustrious Christian city), having
adorned this illustrious temple."

In XpicTToXajjiTTpov the cutter of the stone has omitted the second p;
KaWoTTLo-avreq is for KaWwiricrapTei;. The inscription shows a marked attempt
at poetical expression. It seems complete, though there appears no verb in the
preterite in the sentence. Still one may well inquire if it was not followed
by other lines. 1 found no trace of any on the column, but it is not impossible
that the sequel was cut on some other column, and contains exacter information
as to the date and character of the adornments spoken of, which certainly refer
to the Byzantine church, and are a final j^roof of the existence of that edifice.

To finish off the description of the material, I will give a reproduction of
two fragments built into the wall of the mosque, which are ornamented with
rosettes, one of them cruciform, carved in the Byzantine style.

'h 7/:,m

For the masons' marks noticed on the blocks of the Crusaders' church, see

the Special Table in \'ol. I.

Here likewise are a few small sketches show-
ing the details of the capitals of the clustered dwarf
columns in what is left of the mediaeval church.

The Legend of St. George. — The cult of St.
George at Lydda appears to have been introduced
there very early, and contains certain most curious
elements of Pagan origin. This question I have
treated in detail in a monograph published some
eighteen years ago, so I can only refer the reader to
it.* At the time of the conquest, the Arabs found a
sanctuary of St. George at Lydda, in the shape pro-
bably of the Byzantine church which I have shown
to have existed, and which had perhaps taken the

^=i^

* Horns et St. Georges, 1877. Cf. also my Etudes d'Air/icologie Orientate, Yo\. ], fasc. I,

p. 78.

Tour from J cm sale III to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 109

place of another and more ancient church, the remains of which appear to
be at M on the plan. The Mussulmans in turn took possession of the
Christian legend, and that in a very singular manner, depending on what
I have proposed to call iconology, that is to say the formation of myths from
the sight of pictorial or plastic representations. It is recounted in a tradi-
tion which makes an early appearance in their hadiths and speedily became
popular, that Jesus zvi/l kill the Dajjdl at (ala) the gate of Lydda, or even at
the door of the church of Lydda. This is nothing but an arbitrary interpre-
tation of some group of figures, a bas-relief or what not, which may be
supposed to have existed on the gate of the town or the door of the
sanctuary dedicated to St George, and to have vividly impressed the Arabs.
St. George became in their eyes Jesus, and the dragon the Dajjal, a monster
who is the personification of the Mussulman antichrist. The name of Dajjal
is simply that of the old Philistine god Dagon, which has been preserved
in the name of the neighbouring city Beth Dagon, concerning which I shall
have more to say.* A variant of the legend adds that Jesus shall also slay
the "wild pig," that is to say the boar, "on the gate of Jerusalem." This last
touch may indicate some representation of the same sort ; the boar was the
emblem of the Xth Legion (the Fretensis), which was in garrison at Jerusalem,
and the sigiiuin of the legion had been placed on the gate of Jerusalem
so as to forbid the Jews to enter, according to St. Jerome.t

* The process by which the Christians themselves had already formed their legend of St.
George and the Dragon was similar. It was taken from a popular Egyptian representation of late
date where the god Horus, with his hawk's head, riding on horseback in the uniform of a Roman
tribune or cavalry officer, is seen piercing with his lance the god Set-Typhon in the shape of a
crocodile. The fact that the Emperor Constantine had himself depicted in this same allegorical
form must have helped to popularise this representation in the early ages of Christianity. The
starting point of the legend appears to have been an Alexandrine representation of Diocletian
(Jovius), in the form of Jupiter-Horus, on horseback, piercing with his lance the crocodile Typhon-
Set, as I have pointed out in a recent article {Sur im bas-relief de Soueuia represejttant un episode
de la gigantonachie et sur la ville de Maximanoupolis d' Arable ; Comptes rendiis de I'Academie des
Inscriptions, 12,-20 Ji/illef, 1894; cf. my Etudes d^ Arch. Or., I, p. 178).

t This legend likewise recalls the celebrated prophecy concerning Diocletian, that he should
become emperor as soon as he should have slain the " boar." The prophecy, which was probably
thought of after the event, was deemed accomplished when Diocletian killed with his own hand
the prefect of the pretorium Apcr, whose name signifies " Boar." This decisive event in the life
of Diocletian might have formed the subject of figured representations, which, becoming popular,
like that of Constantine slaying the dragon, might have furnished this new feature to the legend
as picked up by the Arabs on arriving in Palestine. It must not be forgotten that Diocletian had
founded a city in Palestine called after him Diocletianoupolis, but its identity has not hitherto
been established. The memory of the popular boar of Diocletian has moreover impressed itself
deeply on the Talmudic traditions, which call him " Diocletian the Boar" (xTtn).

IIO

Archcvolooical Researches in Palest

nie.

Thk Bridge at Lvdda.*

The fine church erected by the Crusaders
in honour of their much-venerated Saint, by
the side and at the expense of the Byzantine
church, was, as I have said, destroyed by
Saladin. Though history is silent as to its
later fate, it still had one most strange experi-
ence. As I thought I noticed already in 1871,
part of the material used in building it was
carried in the thirteenth century to the distance
of a mile, and set up again to build a bridge
over the wad)- which runs to the north of
Lydda, and joins the numerous wadys that
have their outlet at Jaffa.

Wishing to determine with exactness
under what circumstances this removal took
place, I resolved to make a detailed plan of this
bridge. I enjoyed the aid of M. Lecomte in
this, and was very glad to have his valuable
opinion on many technical points. This
thoroughly bore out my own conclusions.

This bridge, above 30 m. long and about
13 m. broad, is composed of three pointed
arches nearly equal in height, a central arch
about 6" '50 across, and two lateral ones about
5 m. The bed of the wady over which it is

* See the special memoir that I hive devoted to
this question in my Recueil d'Archeologie orientak (1888,
pp. 261-279; cf. pp. 396-399).

Since then M. Max van Berchem, to whom I
pointed out various desiderata that I had not had time or
means to verify, has been kind enough to repair these
omissions in the course of an exploration of Palestine, made
for the purpose of studying Arab archaeology. He has been
so good as to authorise me to make use of the excellent
photographs he has taken, as well as the sketches of certain
details, together with his personal observations. I shall indicate as we go along the additional
information for which I am indebted to him, and here beg him to accept my best thanks,

Tour from Jcrusaloii lo Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

1 1 1

thrown is entirely dry in summer,* but a considerable volume of water passes
along it at the period of the winter rains. It is to some extent blocked up
by patches of alluvial earth, on which there grow prickly-pear-trees [saber).

On the side facing up stream, the two central supports are protected by
two pointed cut-waters intended to break the force of the current, which must
be very violent in time of flood.

BRIDGE AT LYDDA. — Elevation of the side looking up Stream. Scale tj+t, •

Above the central arch, in a rectangular slab, that is sheltered by a pro-
jecting marble cornice, is an Arabic inscription of four lines, Hanked by lions.

-■-■,-=;.-■ ,ii,->;s> ^■.-*-"r^

Tat- ■ V?,-_.V-T _ ^ ■ ._ ■ .

ARABIC INSCRirriOX UN THE BRIDGE AT I.YDDA.

* In searching the soil close by the lower end of the bridge, I found, at some depth,
thousands of little eels of microscopic size wriggling about in the damp mud, and quite unaffected
by the heat. It was in mid June, it should be remembered.

112 A rchccological Researches in Palestine.

On the other side (looking down stream) of the same central arch is set
another Arabic inscription of three Hnes, a repetition almost word for word of
the preceding, barring a few slight variations ;* it is likewise sheltered by a
marble cornice and flanked by similar lions. Here follows the transcription
and translation of the first.

j.<\ (2) ^K)LA.^\ 'Ua.w^ j,.«>ij.c l'j.A~: ^_jli cOl_jL>j *J^J^ cr*"*^'' '"^^ •^' ^'-^

^.a!1 J^. y,m ^<Sx\ f^'i\ ^U^\ U:<^c CJj^\ j^\ \sj, i^,U*.

^U J^J.\ (-nc) ^\ ^U^\ \:\. ^^.. ^A ^J ^]\ Ju^ (3) ^.' 0-1^'

J\ ^\ jjoJI cL:!_j. cJlS. (4) U2 /J:. U>^,U.l .dll ^;^1 J^ I^^j ^..jJl

" In the name of the kind and merciful God, \yhose blessings be on our
Lord Mahomet, on his family, and on all his companions ! The building of
this holy bridge was ordered by our master, the very great Sultan el Malek
edh-Dhaher Rukn ed Din Beibars, son of 'Abd Allah, in the time of his son
our Lord Sultan el Malek es Sa'id Naser ed Din Berekeh Khan, may God
glorify their victories and grant them both His grace. And this, under the
direction of the humble servant aspiring to the mercy of God, 'Ala ed Din
'Aly es Sawwak,+ to whom may God grant grace as also to his father and
mother; in the month Ramadan, the year 671."

The month Ramadan, 671 a.h., corresponds to March-April, 1273 of our
era. The famous sultan Beibars had only four years before associated his son
Berekeh Khan with him in the kingly power ; hence the mention of him in
our inscription along with his father, while he does not appear on the inscrip-
tion of Beibars at Ramleh, dated 666 ; the act of taklid, investing the young
Berekeh Khan with the royal power, having been first promulgated a year
later, in 667.

The two inscriptions are flanked by a pair of low bas-reliefs poorly cut,
each displaying a lion seen in profile, enclosed in a rectangular frame.

The two animals, which are similar on either side of the bridge, face one
another in the same attitude, "passant" and " Idopard^" to speak heraldically.
They are indifferently executed in pure Arab style. The lion on the right

* The formula are generally cut shorter, and the date is omitted.

t The second inscription adds the patronymic hoi 'Omar, "son of 'Omar."

Tour from /cnisahiii to fujjii unci the Coiiiitiy of Samson.

1 1

has his right paw raised ; in front of him, beneath the threatening claws, sits
a tiny quadruped, seen in profile, which, from its pointed nose and ears as
well as its long tail bent vertically along its back, can only be taken for a rat
or squirrel, or perhaps a jerboa (?). The little creature has its front paws
stretched out towards the lion, apparently in an attitude of entreaty.

The lion on the left is lifting his left paw. In front of him is a small
quadruped, obviously a repetition of the former one. The characteristic long
tail of the animal does not appear in the drawing, but exists in the original ;
only in this case it is bent back between the hind paws and lies along the
right thigh.

These representations recall those oriental apologues wherein the lion
and the rat appear, and perhaps contain some allusion to the repeated victories
of Sultan Beibars over the Crusaders, whom he crushed in several encounters,
and successively deprived of Cresarea, Arsuf, Safed, and lastly Jaffa, the
neighbour town to Lydda. Can there be some play in the words far ( ,Uj
"rat" and knj/ a r (jlii).'' " the infidels ?" or is it intended to caricature the
lion rampant, the device of the Lusignans, kings of Cyprus and Jerusalem,
by representing it as a rat?""'

In any case, these lions are of singular interest for the history of heraldry
among the Mussulmans. We know from Arabic writers that the rank\ or
"heraldic emblems" of Sultan Beibars was a lion, and I have found that
animal on numerous structures in Syria and Egypt raised by that sovereign.
It is also represented on his coins, both gold, silver, and bronze.

* 'J'he question also occurs whether it was intended to travesty the leopard of the Eiiglith
royal arms ; for the bridge of Lydda, as I shall explain later on, was built just at the time when
Beibars was in conflict with Prince Edward. The western name leopard transliterated into
Arabic, ilij-i-!) presented an opportunity for a play on Jar, the name for a rat, and thus jxrhajis
gave rise to the contemptuous allusion.

t From the Persian raiii:;, "colour."

114 A rch(FoIogica/ Researches in Palestine.

Beibars was a great bridcje-builder. I have noted in Arabic chronicles
quite an imposing number of these structures executed by his orders. That
at Lydda is expressly mentioned by the anonymous author of the Life of
Beibars,* who speaks of "two bridges built by Beibars in 672, in the neigh-
bourhood of Ramleh, to facilitate the passage of troops." The agreement of
the dates denotes that one of the two bridges is ours. Another remains to be
discovered in these parts. My first thought was of ihejisr es Sildd, which is
three miles further to the north, but I now incline to another opinion, which 1
will enunciate latent The chiefly strategic object of these two bridges proves
that they were intended to ensure a permanent communication along the
highway between Egypt and Northern Syria, which passed through Ramleh
and Lydda, and was cut up by numerous wadys originating in the Judaean
highlands.

It was especially important to Beibars, as the requirements of war and
politics continually summoned him from one end of the kingdom to another
during his victorious struggle against the Crusaders and his native rivals, and
he had need of solid bridges to secure a way at all seasons across the wadys
that intersected his route, not only for men and horses but also — which was
most important — for baggage and siege artillery [inanjdnik).

In the case of the bridge of Lydda, Beibars had an immediate and
special interest in making safe the north road from Lydda, so that his troops
could move rapidly forward and cover Ramleh, Lydda, and the plain as far as
Carmel, in cast! of a hostile movement on the part ot the Crusaders. In
1 27 1 Prince Edward of England had pushed a daring raid as far as Kakun,
thus threatening Lydda. Here was a danger to be guarded against, more
especially as Prince Edward had refused in person to subscribe to the truce of
Csesarea formed in 1272 by Beibars with King Hugh, thinking to renew the
incursions that he had found so profitable. Beibars adopted two measures,
first he tried, in 1272, to get rid of the English Prince by assassination, and
oddly enough it was ihtt Emir of Rani/ek\ who prompted him to this base
attempt, which was disavowed by Beibars, after its failure, as an excess of
zeal. Secondly (in 1273) he built the bridge of Lydda. The coincidence in
date between these two occurrences is most significant, and points to a close
relationship between them.

* An Arabic MS., as yet unpublished, in the BibHoth^ue Nationale : Supplement, No. 803.

t See further on, p. 173, my account of the bridge of Yebna.

X For fuller details of this dramatic episode, see my remarks further on about Yebn;i, p. 175.

Tour from Jcnisali-iii to Jaffa and tlic Cointfrv of Samson.

'15

Apparently then everything concurs to persuade us that the bridge of
Lydda was of pure Arab origin ; and yet, as I have already pointed out, a
close examination reveals a most unexpected archaeological fact — the greater
part of the materials of the bridge of Beibars are of IVestei^i origin.

The stones display the mediaeval slanting tool-marks, an infallible
indication of the work of the Crusaders ; moreo\'er, many of them bear
masons' marks that are absolutely conclusive. For instance, several stones
of the central arch have the W- In the special Table of Vol. I will be found
a series of these marks which I noted, and there are certainly plenty more that
must have escaped me. They may all be found on the stones of the church
of Lydda that have remained in their old position.

The outline of the mouldings of the marble cornices that overhang and
protect the bas-reliefs, and the Arabic inscriptions, are anything but Arab in
style. We could not take a drawing of these, so as to compare the outlines
with that of the mouldings in the church at Lydda. We ought, likewise, to
have satisfied ourselves that it did not display the mediaeval tool-marking.
Happily, I am in a position to fill up this lacuna, thanks to the kindness of
M. van Berchem, who has been so good as to verify this detail carefully at
my request. I cannot do better than to transcribe here, in a shortened form,
the notes that he has sent me :

" The cornice over the inscription (on the side looking up stream) appears to be
Latin, but it is smooth, and made of polished marble without strins (a). This cornice
is of different workmanslu'p from the one with the inscription, and from the
lions ; it is of marble, instead of the coarse-grained limestone worked by the
Arabs. The corresponding cornice on the down side has a profile Hke this (b).

"s^

^ -f

A. — Approximate Profile.

The surface has strix very slightly slanting, and almost horizontal, having
their direction determined by the concave-convex surface of the doucine.*

* In conformity witfi the general rule set forth above for the dressing of mcdiaival Western
origin. The profile of one of these cornices recalls in striking fashion that of the moulding
over the abacus of the capitals of the mediaeval church of Lydda. (See the sketch given above
[p. 108], and Plate XX\TT, in Vogiie's jtglises d: la Terrc Saintc)

0 2

ii6

Ai'chceological Researches in Palestine.

Lastly, the central pointed arch, instead of having a keystone, as is the
case with all Arab ogives, has the vertical joint passing through the middle.'"'
Now it is a matter of common knowledge that the vertical joint is the mark of a
specific difference! between the arch of the Westerns — three-centered — and the
Arab arch. From a statical point of view the two arches are constructed on
quite different principles. The Arab pointed arch, with its keystone, is in a
sense an imitation semi-circular arch. While we are dealing with this matter,
I should like to draw attention to a curious point of relation hitherto unnoticed.
The tiers point or three-centered arch, commonly called now-a-days by
F"rench architects the ogive, sometime also in mediaeval language went by the
name of five-centered arch or quint point. \ Now when I was at Jerusalem
I heard natives — men engaged in the trade — call the pointed arch, as
opposed to the semi-circular arch, KImnies, "fifth" ((^^..^...^o^), which answers
exactly to the mediaeval name of quint point ox five-ccntered.\

I will add a few more remarks which I owe to M. van Berchem, and
which are a further confirmation of the preceding, or serve to make them more
precise.

"The two "heads" of the middle arch consist of striated blocks, much better set
up than those of the main part of the bridge. The latter is of small tufous rubble,
mixed with striated blocks. The two side arches are also of small rubble (Arab

dressing) ; however, these arches also present

a vertical joint, like the middle arch, with the

exception of that on the west, which has on the

north side an Arab keystone . . . The central

arch (Crusaders' materials) shows all along its

edge a quadrant-shaped moulding;!! now on

several of the blocks of the head of the arch this

moulding occurs again, not only on the outside,

at a, but also on the inner edge at Ij, in the intrados, which proves that they

original!}' formed part of an " arc doubleau " or a Gothic rib, and would tend

to confirm your hypothesis, which appears to me altogether probable."

* This difference, however, is not invariable, for the Crusaders have not infrequently
employed in Palestine the Arab system of arches with keystones.

t M. Lecomte's drawing takes no notice of this important detail, but I have since been
able to assure myself of it beyond a doubt, from a photograph that I had made in 1887, with
the kind assistance of Frere Lievin and M. Bonfils. I have given a photograph of this already
(p. III).

\ See Villard de Honnecourt's Album.

% The origin of these names would furnish abundant material for discussion. I intend to
return later on to this important question, and have collected a quantity of notes concerning it.

II See the engraving already given (p. 1 1 1).

Tour from fcntsalciii to /af/a ami the Count rv of Samson. 1 1 7

Though the materials are of mediaeval origin, it was certainly not the
Crusaders who built this bridge. The patches, bad joins, unevennesses, and
faulty dressing of the stone which are visible in the setting up of these
heterogeneous materials betray the process of working up that they have
evidently been through." Besides, the bridge is nowhere mentioned in the
annals of the Crusaders, and Beibars loudly claims the honour of having built
it. He speaks truly, but what he omits to say is that the person charged by
him to construct with all speed this much needed bridge, hit upon the idea of
making a quarry of the ruins of the Crusaders' church demolished by Saladin
nearly a century before. The central arch of the bridge, at any rate, is simply
one of the arches of the church, indifferently set up. In the main part of the
structure there are even tambours of half-columns imbedded in the pilasters,
with their masons' marks on each tambour. Thus the bridge of Lydda forms
a necessary complement to the church, which explains why I have thought it
desirable to submit it to a detailed examination from an historical as well
as an archaeological standpoint.

This bridge goes by the name of "Bridge of Jindas" [/isr findds) among
the natives, from the name of a small village lying quite near it to the east.
According to a local tradition which I heard at Jindas itself, the origin of the
village only dates back to the construction of the bridge, that is to say to 1273.

This tradition seems at first sight to be in flagrant contradiction with a
Latin charter of 1129, which mentions the "casal" of Geiidas in the territory
of Lydda, t most certainly identical with our Jindas. This is 144 years before
the building of the bridge by Beibars.

However, the tradition may be perfectly well founded, and not incom-
patible with fact.

The truth is, it strikes me as more than probable that the bridge itself
is not, any more than the stones which to-day compose it, the work of Arabs
in the first instance. I discovered inside one of the small lateral arches
(that on the right as you look at the side facing up stream) the remains of a
ruined arch of still earlier date. The springs of it are marked A-B
on geometrical elevation (see above, p. 1 1 1 ). This arch was semi-circular.

* Thus, for instance, the central arch of the down side has been so badly re-set that the
joint at the top, originally vertical, varies appreciably from the normal vertical, and inclines to the
right, as may be seen from a photograph of it taken by M. van Berchem.

t Delaville Le Roulx, Cartiilaire generat des Hospitaliers, No. 84 ; cf. No. 225 (act of the
year 1154): "in territorio Liddensi."

ii8 Arclurological Researches iu Palestine.

as appears from a calculation of the curve. The keystone must have been
more than 13 feet below the intrados of the ogive arch which surmounts it at
the present day. This difference in level is the result of the gradual filling-up
of the bed of the wady by alluvial deposits, which would point to a considerable
interval, certainly some centuries, between the construction of these two
bridges, quite different in form.

It may well be supposed that long before the thirteenth century, perhaps
as early as the Roman, or at least the Byzantine period, there was already
a bridge at this point, which lies on an important highway of Palestine, that
uniting Lydda (Diospolis) and Csesarea by way of Antipatris. The Arab
bridge was founded on the remains of this ancient one, and probaby at one
time or another the hands of the Byzantines also were busy with the latter.

It is not impossible that the old bridge of Lydda is the place alluded to
in the Talmud, in speaking of the copy of the Torah that was burnt by the
sacrilegious Apostomos, that is, if we really must follow the commentators in
rendering the words "171 ^^nili^Q Ma'abartha de Lod, by "the bridge of Lydda."

In any case these facts enable us to understand how the inhabitants of
Jindas can assert, without grievous error, that their village, though mentioned
at least as early as the twelfth century, was contemporary with a bridge which
at first one would not suppose to have existed before the end of the thirteenth,
since this bridofe dates back much earlier than the thirteenth or even the
twelfth century. Jindas therefore may very well be contemporary, as local
tradition has it, with this ancient Byzantine or Roman bridge.

This name Jindas has not an Arab or even a Semitic appearance.
Possibly it may be merely a corruption of the male name Te.vvahio'i, which
was common enough in the Byzantine era. Gennddios, or Gennddis (FevmSts),
as the pronunciation was in Syria at that period, would be regularly trans-
literated into Arabic as Jenddis ^^^jjU^ ; there exists about ten miles from
Lydda, to the north-east and quite near 'Abbud, a locality bearing the latter
name. I allude to the Mng/ir Jinddis of the Map (.Sheet XIV, kq).
Jenadis looks like a plural form of Jindas, but it is quite within the bounds of
possibility that it was just this look which produced the corrupt {orm Jindas,
and that this later on was artificially constructed as a singular out of the
primitive type Jenddis, which has the air of a plural. So Jisr Jindas may
mean simply the bridge of Gennadios, some more or less official personage of
the Byzantine period, who, we may suppose, attached his name to the con-
struction or reconstruction of the bridge of Lydda and from the bridge the
name may have passed on to the neighbouring village.

Tour from [cniui/ii/i lo fafia ami the Country of Samson.

119

Mosque of Ramlkh.

During our stay at Lydda we went to see the Mosque at Ramleh, which
also is an old mediaeval church converted. Being aware that the Survey
Party had made a special study of it some months before, I confined mysel
to noting a few details.

In the reveal of the window above the modern door on the right hand
side is a masons' mark twice repeated.

In the embrasure of the window of the right apse, and to the right and
left sides, are three or four different masons' marks. (See the Special Table
in Vol. I.)

Above the door of the stairs leading to the minaret, a fine block of
marble, carved on three sides, has been let in to do duty as a lintel. Un-
fortunately it has been mutilated by the cutting to which it has been subjected
to fit it to its new purpose. Here are four sketches showing the position and
general shape of the lintel, looking at the various sides accessible.

Outer face.

Inner face.

//'/////////////.

Ir.teiior.

TT^.TT-//- -'.7/

-/////^/y/yy//////,.' /A'

Plan.
Mosque at Kami.kii. IJetails— Scale ,',-..

^.^^^-^^^^^^

Trdfile

I20

Arclurolooical Researches in Palestine.

I took some very good squeezes of the three sculptured sides that were
visible. Here follow exact drawings made by M. Lecomte from the squeezes.

-^^^^J^^^^^

^m^iMS/,:w.. '^?

-" — yyy/^M)^//y^y/'imj

1^1 __: .AM

A — Two fantastic horned quadrupeds facing one another, to the right and
left of a mystic vase, from which emerge two vine plants laden with leaves
and fruit, enveloping the animals. Above, a denticulate border. It will be
noticed en the left that the lower border, which is moulded, rises to form a
semi-circle enclosing a part that has been slightly scooped out, or considerably
hammered down, with a view, probably, to remove some central subject
enclosed within it. The restoration of this semi-circle is an evident necessity :
it is indicated by a dotted line in the engraving (page 1 19). It shows that the
block in its original state must have been much longer, as the semi-circle
must mark the middle of it. It is to be presumed that there was a sculptured

Toiir fr-oni Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Savtson. 121

scene to the left of the semi-circle of the same extent as the one on the right,
and forming a symmetrical pendent to it. The block must have been cut to
the length required to convert it into a lintel. From these various considera-
tions I estimate the original length of the stone at 2"'' 60.

B — The rear face of the lintel presents, in its upper part, the same line
of toothed border as the front face ; the same moulded border likewise existed,
no doubt, in the lower part, but has disappeared, the stone having been cut
away and chopped off in parts. Here the decorations consist of three
medallions, so to call them, formed by interlacing foliage, separated by
three flowers clustered. On the two medallions to the right and left are
carved two more or less fantastic birds (storks ? or ostriches ?), with long
bending necks, and bills pointing downwards. The centre medallion doubt-
less presented another subject, but has been so carefully hammered out as to
be undistinguishable. I suspect that it was some emblem of Christianity
of a more marked character than the mystic vase on the front face, which
particularly shocked the orthodoxy of the Mussulmans. To the left of the
left medallion is an ornament consisting of a lozenge inscribed in a rectangle
with a knob in the centre ; this motive must have been symmetrically repeated
on the right, and then immediately next the lozenge, which is intact, came the
part corresponding to the semi-circle on the front face, which marks the
middle of the lintel in its primitive condition. To the right of this semi-circle
likewise appeared, we may suppose, a scene forming a pendent to that on
the left.

c — Finally, the under surface of the lintel is also carved ; but a portion
of the carving has disappeared in course of the cutting made to receive the
top of the doorway. The subject represented, of which only the lengthwise
half remains, was a cross inscribed in a crown encircled by a fillet, with either
end terminating in an ivy leaf, the whole being within a moulded rectangular
frame. Here again there must have been, at the other end of the lintel,
and perhaps at the centre also, one or two subjects forming a pendent to
this latter.

The sculptures are in good Byzantine style ; and the subjects belong to
Christian symbolism. It is difficult to fix the architectural function of a long
narrow block like this, which must have measured 2'"' 60 by o'""2 7, and was
intended to lie horizontally and be seen on three sides. It was certainly not
an ordinary lintel ; its length would have been excessive considering its
height. Possibly it was supported at the middle by an upright that divided
into two parts the opening over which it was placed. Certainly it must have

122 ArchtToIogical Researches in Palestine.

belonged to a magnificent building, which was not at Ramleh, but rather at
Lydda, the great episcopal town, which possessed in addition to the old
Basilica of St. George some other fine churches, two of which, notably, were
dedicated to the Virgin.*

It has been supposed that the minaret might be the ancient belfry of the
Crusaders. The thing is possible ; the chief arch above the lintel, with its
vertical joint in the middle, must be mediaeval in its materials, if not in the
arrangement or re-arrangement of them, but in any case this belfry must have
been re-constructed, at least in part, by the Mussulmans. In fact, I noticed
over the lintel described above an Arabic ta^'ikh, which I unfortunately
omitted to copy in full, saying that this minaret was built in the year 714'''
(= 1 3 14 of our era), in the reign of Sultan Naser ed Dunia u'd Din, son of
el IMelck el Mansur Kelawun. To this epoch perhaps we should refer the
mutilation and appropriation of the carved lintel.

At Ramleh I saw a small tessera of terra-cotta in the
hands of an Arab, and managed to acquire it. It is square
and slightly concave; the side measures o'""035. One of
its sides bears a representation rudely carved in relief, in
which one can make out a bird with outspread wings
pouncing on a running quadruped. This is probably the
traditional subject of the eagle attacking the hare.
A Greek inscription said to exist. — I had been told in 1869 J by a native
of Jerusalem that there was at Ramleh, at the house of a Mussulman
named Jaber, a kerb of a well with a Greek inscription. According
to other information acquired about the same time, this object was at
Lydda, with the Christian servant of Rabah Effendy el Huseiny. I had
not the leisure to verify these indications, but wish to point them out to
future explorers.

* I find them mentioned in a synodal letter of 836, published a few years back by Sakkelion.
One of these two churches must have been still in existence at the end of the 12th century, to
judge by a passage in "Aly el Herewy quoted by M. le Strange without further comment : " Here
too, is the house of Maryani, and this the Franks hold in great veneration." {Palestine under tlie
Moslems., p. 494.) .

t I am not sure as to the last of the three figures. Naser ed Dunia ii'd Din is the same
as the Sultan to whom Mujir ed Din expressly attributes the building of the great tower of
Jame' el Abiadh, which was completed in 718 a.h.

1 1869, Garnet III, p. 12.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 123

Between Lydda and Jaffa.

We left Lydda for Jaffa on the morning of June loth. We took a direct
route for Sarfand (Surafend), and were not able to visit Safiriyeh. The name
of the latter is pronounced Sdjriyeh. The ethnic is Sifi-dny, plural Sdfarneh.

At Sarfand we found the fellahin for the most part living in huts of
branches i^arish), recalling the sukkoth of the Bible. Had it not been for the
difference of the season, we might have imagined ourselves at the Feast of
Tabernacles.

In the village we went to see the sanctuary dedicated to Neby Lokjiidii
el Hakim and his son. In the interior of the Kubbeh is a large white-washed
cenotaph, having an orientation quite different from that of the square
chamber in which it is placed, lying diagonally across it. I noticed some
fragments of columns near. Some people say, I was told, that this is the
genuine tomb of Lokman, others that it is merely his makdm or sanctuary.
A similar division on this point was early manifested in the written tradition
of the Mussulmans. Mujir ed Din speaks of the tomb of Lokman as existing
in the village of Sarfand, and adds that, according to Kotada, the tomb is at
Ramleh.

It has been proposed, with much ingenuity, to recognize in Lokman not
only the personality but also the name of Bala'am, on account of the identity
existing between the two roots lakam in Arabic and hala' in Hebrew, which
both signify " to swallow."

It is undeniable that in the Mussulman legend of Lokman a number of
features have been evidently borrowed from the story of Bala'am ; but it is
equally certain that many others are borrowed from the story of /Ksop,
including the fables ascribed to Lokman. The old Arab writers themselves
appear to have recognized two distinct personages in Lokman : Lokman the
'Adite and Lokman the sage. I am moreover of opinion that there lurks
beneath their Lokman a third personality, namely, \k\^ prophet Gad, who jDlays
such an important part in the history of David. The question would be too
long to discuss in this place, but any one can easily convince himself of what I
say by considering all that the hadiths say about the relations between
Lokman and David. It is, I think, this third aspect of the heterogeneous
personality of Lokman that is the subject of the local traditions of Sarfand.*

* I need not remind my readers that Bala'am himself became in the eyes of the Talmudists
an cpigraniatic personification of Jesus, and was the germ of the Jewish notion of the anti-Christ,
wliich wah taken u]) by the Mussulmans and ai)[)licd to the Dejjal.

R 2

124 Archceologicixl Researches in Palestine.

The inhabitants of Sarfand, who appear very proud of their makam of
Lokman, informed me that his son was called Mtishkidm.

I saw near the village several fine pieces of white marble newly unearthed,
comprising a carved capital, a fragment of a Kufic inscription, and an Arabic
inscription of great size inscribed on a magnificent abacus. I could not copy
it on account of the unamiable attitude of the inhabitants, who said to me
ironically, "This inscription signifies, Mal'iin ibn ei-ma/'nn elly bikaddeni 'ala
hal-beled cl-niMdesch, which is to sa)- : " Cursed son of a cursed father is he
who comes into this country to make plans." I took the application to myself,
and did not press them further, being rather anxious not to alarm their
susceptibilities, as I wanted to ask them for a guide to take me to the places I
am about to speak of.

I noticed some curious transpositions of letters in the dialect of the
fellahin of Sarfand. For instance they say bukbd and kdby instead of bubkd,
bdky ( Ja.' + t_;, ^l'). "he remains, remaining."

I obtained the desired guide after some trouble, and we set off. As we
went along, the fellah, who was at the outset uncommunicative, was pleased
to break silence, and I sfot some information out of him.

He confirmed me in two points I had noted already at Lydda, the
pronunciation Siirfand for Sarfand and the legendary name of the village
SarfelMdl.

He told me that at Kubeibeh (near Yebna) there was a Xeby ShemoM
(Simeon). To the east of Sarfand and quite near it, is a low mound of small
size, called Dhahrat Bnscileh, where it would appear a great quantity of
squared stones have been found. Possibly this is where those above-mentioned
came from. Formerly this place was called Ddr Melek 'Akds, " the house of
King 'Akas."

Sarfand el Khardb. — After fifty minutes or so we arrived at Sarfand el
Khardb, " Sarfand the Ruined," lying to the south-west of the present village,
which, for distinction's sake, is surnamed "The Inhabited" [Sarfand el
'Amdr). I find this double nomenclature repeated in the official lists of the
local authorities, which certainly are copied from older lists. Here there
is an authentic instance of the transference of a locality, along with its name,
to another spot. It only shows how careful one has to be in making geogra-
phical identifications in Palestine.

The place presents unmistakable signs of antiquity. We contented
ourselves with a hasty glance at it, just noting a few more or less significant
names given to various parts of the ruins : el Bauberiyeh. el Habes, Tdhnnl

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and tJie Country of Samson. 1 2 5

el Hawd* Sarfand el Kharab is probably of older date than Sarfand el
'Amar, and ought, I think, to come in for a share of the many identifications,
more or less plausible, that have been suggested for the latter. Native tradition
attributes its destruction and subsequent desertion to Ibrahim Pasha, but I
think it must date much farther back than that.

Lft/iek. — About half an hour to the south-west they say is Kh. Liilieh^
with ruins of considerable extent. There used to be at Lulieh a Kasr bent
Abu S/iarbaj\t^ " the castle of the daughter of Abu Sharbaj." The princess's
name was Lii/tek. Her father had shut her up in his castle. She secretly
desired to marry. Each day she asked her father for water from a new source ;
each day the king had a new well dug. At last it was told him : " What she
wants is a husband," and then he gave her in marriage. This is the origin
of the "thirty wells " that are to be seen at Khurbet Lulieh.

'Aynn Kara. — However, I hastened to verify the statement furnished me
at Lydda, that there was in these parts a spot called A'yfm Kara. Either
from ignorance or ill-will on the part of our guide from Sarfand, we had
endless trouble in discovering the real place, but in the end we got there.
The spot is marked by a number of holes in some sand-dunes, with fresh
water welling up in them, and forming a little verdant meadow all round. We
ascended a high dune near, from which the " Back ''' of Jaffa (a ver)- small part
of it) can be seen over another dune. Some ten minutes to the east of the
springs is a certain Khiirbet Kara, which has given its name to the springs, or
else borrowed it of them. The whole chain of sandy dunes bordering the
road from Gaza on the west till the beiydra of Shahin Agha is called Wdtdt
el 'Aynn, or Wddy 'Ay fin Kdrd.

* I also find a Birket Hauran written down in my field book, but, from the indefinite
character of the entrj', I cannot tell whether this name is appUed to one of the two birkeh \-isible
at Sarfand el Kharab, or to one of the places in the vicinity afterwards mentioned.

t See above, where the same name, Lulieh, is ascribed by local tradition to Yalo.

X I am not sure as to the exact form of the name, or rather word, which appears in this
appellation. Can it be Charbaj, for Karbaj 1 Kurbaj signifies a wine-seller's shop. I wonder
whether Luheh, which is employed as a woman's name in the legend of the peasants of Sarfand,
may possibly correspond with Julia ('Ioi/X<'a, '\ov\iTf) ? It is weU known (and I shall recur
to this later on) that the Hellenising Jews had a habit of changing initial / into / in foreign
names, such as Julianus (Luliani). We have, perhaps, in Lulieh a survival of this phonetic
permutation, possibly engendered by the presence of the / at the beginning of the second
syllable. It will be noticed that precisely the same phonetic conditions are present in the case
of Yalo=Lulieh. Many towns of antiquity bore the name of Julia : in Palestine even Bethsaida
had received from Herod the name of 'XovXia", in honour of Julia, daughter of Augustus. Another
town of Peraea {Betharamtha) bore the same name.

126 ArcJurological Researches in Palestine.

The presence of the springs justifies the supposition that there must have
been an ancient settlement here; but what was it? I have mentioned that,
according to native Greek tradition, Kara would have been once a bishopric.
There are several places in the old ecclesiastical lists of Palestine, such as
Onous, Sozousa, etc., which have not yet been identified, and perhaps one of
them corresponds to our Kara.

The idea also occurred to me — I put it forward with all reserve — that
Kara, with its remarkable springs, might be the Uanite city Me-Jarkon, "the
green or yellow waters," near Jaffa. This would involve the supposition
of a change from pp-|"i to \J^-, by syncope of the yod, aphaeresis of the
termination on, and metathesis of koph and irsch, which are all common
phonetic phenomena in Arabic. If the town of Rakkon, mentioned imme-
diately after Me-Jarkon in the Book of Joshua, is only a doublet of this, as
some commentators suppose, the identification with Kara will be still more
seductive. But this I repeat is simple guess-work. Moreover, I am quite
aware that Tell er Rekkeit, to the north of Jaffa, may also lay claim to be
identified with Rakkon if not with Me-Jarkon.

DdjAn. — I next went in quest of the Khiirbet Ddjun, the name of which
made a great impression on me when I heard it at Lydda. We discovered
it upon a small oblong tell, lying between 'Ayun Kara and Beit Dejan, called
Dhalirat Ddjiln, not far from the wely of Sittnd Nefiseh. Though the ruins
are not particularly conspicuous, I have no doubt that the tell corresponds to
the site of an ancient town, more ancient probably than Beit Dejan, which has
adopted its name in a form slightly different, and further removed from the
original. Apparently the same process has been gone through here as in the
case of Sarfand el Kharab and Sarfand el 'Amar, a transference from the south
to the north. The cause was doubtless the same, the desire of the inhabitants
to quit a too remote locality for one on the road between Jaffa and Ramleh.
In the case of Dajun there was perhaps, in addition, the danger of encroach-
ment from the ever progressing sand of the dunes lying to the south of Jaffa.

It would be obviously convenient to transfer to Dajun the identifications
suggested for Beit Dejan, namely, with the Kaphar Dagon quoted by
Ono7nastieon, and the Beth Dagon of the tribe of Judah. "'• Kaphar Dagon
is marked as an important Kajx-q between Diospolis and Jamnia, whereas it is
impossible to say as much of Beit Dejan, which is between Lydda and Jaffa,

* The name of the town mentioned in Joshua xv, 41, seems to me to be really Gederoili-Bclh
Dcfvn, and ought iieihaps to be looked for further south.

Tour from Jcnisalcin to Jaffa and fJic Conniry of Samson. 127

and not between Lydda and Yebna. The difficulty is far from being fully
removed by locating Kaphar Dagon at Dajun, but it is somewhat lessened,
as Dajun, from its more southerly position, comes nearer the line joining
Lydda and Yebna.* It should further be noted that Eusebius and St.
Jerome employ the somewhat vague expression "between," instead of
reckoning, as their manner is, by the milestones that marked out the routes
in their day. This would tend to show that Kaphar Dagon was not actually
on the road uniting Diospolis and Jamnia.t

If the Kaphar Dagon of the Onoiuasticon really answers to the Beth
Dagon of the Bible, it is at Dajoun that the two of them should be located.
By combining the more modern name Beit Dejan and the archaic name
DdJTin, which have belonged at different periods to a village that has gone
through a process of removal, we get all the onomastic material needed
to reconstruct a name Beit Ddjiin. This exactly corresponds to Beth
Dagon, including the class-name "Beth," "house," which was replaced, at
the time when the Onoinasticon was compiled, by the class-name Kaphar,
" village."

I attach particular importance to this agreement of names, as the
equation Dagon = Ddjiin =■ Dcjan completely justifies an identification which
I have for other motives attempted to establish between the god Dagon and
the monster Dajjdl of Arab legend. ;[:

Mukaddasi tells us that there is near Ramleh a town called Ddjdn, with
a mo.sque, and that it is principally inhabited by Samaritans. This is
beyond a doubt our Ddjun, which consequently was still flourishing in the
tenth century of our era. Yakut even mentions a celebrated Mussulman
doctor who came from this town and was called cd Ddjmiy.\

* Especially if, as is probable enough, the Onoinasticon is alluding to the Jamnia on ttie
sea-coast, that is to say, the ancient port of Yebna, at Minat Rubin. Truth to say, the place
which by its position would strictly answer to the definition of the Onoinasticon is neither Kh.
Dajun, nor, still less, Beit Dejan, but Sarfand cl Kharab, of which I have just spoken. It is
curious to note that the terms of the problem are exactly the same for the undiscoverable Pe/c'tin
or Bekiin (pypB, fV'pa), to which the Talmud assigns the same position, half-way between Lod and
Yabneh.

t A fact which seems to lend weight to this remark is, that the existence of a Roman way
between these two towns is attested by a line in the Peutinger Table.

+ It is of course a familiar fact that, at the end of words especially, / and n are constantly
interchanged by the Arabs of Palestine.

§ And also er Rain/y, clear proof that our Dajun is really the place meant, since it is close
by Ramleh,

128 Archcvoloncal Researches in Palestine.

"^A

The existence, at this early period and in these parts, of an important
Samaritan settlement, is a most interesting fact. The statement of
Mukaddasi is fully confirmed by a passage in the Samaritan chronicles
El Tholidoth, which speaks of a certain Abraham, son of Ur, who came
from Dagun (p)l^^"l).* We may henceforward expect that excavations at
Dajun will lead to the discovery of Samaritan antiquities.

Mukaddasi further says that one of the gates of Ramleh was called the
"gate of Dajun." Evidently it got this name from being the starting-point
of the road from Ramleh to Dajun. The names of the eight gates of
Ramleh, as given by the Arab geographer, are susceptible of a like explana-
tion ; the gate of (the mosque of) 'Anndbeh ; the Jerusalem gate; the Jaffa
gate ; the Lydda gate ; the Egypt gate ; the Dajun gate. Two only remain
doubtful.

The first is the gate of Bir el'Asker, "the soldiers' well." We ought
perhaps to understand by this the great covered cistern of el 'Aineiziyeh,
situated about ten minutes to the north of Ramleh. In fact, Yakut says that
'Asker was the name of a quarter of the town.

The next is the gate of Bil'a ; at least, this is how the name is read by
Mr. Guy Le Strange. The latter, after M. de Goeje, the first and learned
editor of Mukaddasi, fancies he can identify it with a certain "church of Bali'a"
(situated, it seems, not far from Ramleh and Lydda), and inclines to connect
the two of them with the Baalah of the Bible (Joshua xv, 19). This conjecture
seems to me inadmissible, for several reasons. In the first place, according
to this view, the " Bira gate" and the "Jerusalem gate" would be the same
thing twice over, since Kariet el 'Enab, which is the place indicated in the
hypothesis, lies just on the road from Ramleh to Jerusalem. Then again,
there is nothing to show that Bali'a, .ulb, and ajtl^.', Bil'a, are the same
name. I question, even, whether bali'a is a proper name at all, and not rather
a simple epithet qualifying the "church" (luIL ?). What is certain, at any
rate, is, that the manuscripts do not agree in the readings of the name of the
"Bil'a" gate. A MS. of Mukaddasi, that I had occasion to consult in 1872
on this and many other points, gives aAx-s without diacritical marks, which

* The same document shows that there were also Samaritans established at Gaza, and this is
confirmed by the discovery at Gaza of a Samaritan inscription which I saw there a few months
later. At 'Amwas likewise, not long ago, a Samaritan inscription was found, which reveals
the presence of Samaritans at Emmaus, and may explain how the author of the bilingual
inscription on the Byzantine capital discovered at 'Amwas (in 18S0) managed to get a model for
the archaic Hebrew character used in it.

Tour from Jcrusalcni to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 1 29

leaves room for many readings.* I, in my turn, will propose another, which
has the advantage of satisfying at least the geographical requirements of this
small problem, viz., .ULC', and even IxIj-j. I find in these the name of the
modern village of Nfdneh (Naaneh on the Map), to the south of Ramleh,
the name of which is now written in various ways, among others, thus : .u.,A:..f

The shifting of the ''ain, in combination with the two «'s, was almost
unavoidable considering the phonetic habits of the fellahin.j

The subjoined diagram will show the relative positions of the eight gates
of Ramleh in the loth century, together with the origin of the names they
received, according to the quarters of the horizon towards which the roads
leading from them were directed (see p. 130).

My only hesitation is about the Bir el 'Asker gate, which may have been
in a quarter quite different from the 'Aineziyeh cistern. One is occasionally
tempted, out of regard for symmetry, to look for a point intermediate between
the roads leading to Egypt and Dajun. Everything depends on the position
of the quarter of 'Asker which had given its name to the cistern, and is
perhaps still existing to-day.

* This is MS. B of M. de Goeje's edition : of the other two MS3., C has ajiLw and A .uL»-' .
This last reading is the one adopted by the editor, which does not make it the right one. As
for the name— if name it be— of the church, the MSS. have a.t!lj and .iUtlb (iL.joi' ^). M. de
Goeje says, quite rightly, that the place mentioned by Yakvit, aUIb '' Bdti'a," in the Belka,
part of the region of Damascus, is out of the question. I must, however, point out to the
reader a somewhat singular coincidence. The Arab geographer mentions this Bali'a, a place
far distant from the region now occupying our attention, as being the place where Balaam
(" Bal'am, son of Ba'ura ") alighted. This legend is evidently the result of identifying the name
of the place and that of the person. Now we have seen that the legend of Balaam (under the
popular name of Lokman) was localized at Sarfand ; so it may be asked whether the church of
Bali'a mentioned by Mukaddasi might not be some church erected at Sarfand. But in this case
the same objection would be encountered, namely, the existence of a gate at Ramleh, named
after Sarfand, would clash with the existence of another gate called after Jaffa, Sarfand being on
the road from Ramleh to Jaffa.

t Name Lists, p. 272. The name by no means signifies "the i)lant mint;" the word that
has this meaning is .,_kxj , nana'. Sir Charles Warren proposes to identify this village with the
Naamah of Joshua. This is ingenious and attractive — the change of the Hebrew ;// to an
Arabic n is quite admissible. I question, however, whether the position of Nianeh does not take
us a little too far north for this hypothesis. There is a place more to the south which it seems
to me may have preserved the name of this Naamah in a still closer form— I mean A'rak Na'tndn
and Deir Na'man, between Tell es Safy and K'zazeh. The vicinity would suit perfectly well.

X It may even be that the third radical was a lam, and that the reading of the MSS. was
correct on this point. This / must easily have changed to n in the speech of the fellahin. This
would take us to a primitive name Ntl'a.

130 Archaolo^ical Researches in Palestine.

In any case, that puts it beyond all doubt that there really existed an
ancient town of the name of Dajun on the site that I discovered.

The straight lines indicate the distant places to which the roads lead, the dotted lines
show the real position of the roads.

Kh. Jaliis. — On the completion of this little reconnaissance, we went
back to Yazur on the high road to Jaffa. We made a slight deflection to the
north, so as to take in Selemeh (Selmeh), where I discovered a place called
Kh. Jaliis, quite near the village to the east, and finally arrived at Jaffa.

Jaffa.

Ancient Jeivish Necropolis. — During the few days we spent at Jaffa
I particularly busied myself with studying the ancient necropolis, the site of
which 1 had only b(;en able to reconnoitre hastily the previous November.*

At this first visit I found and brought away, as related above, a Judceo-
Greek inscription ; a reproduction and explanation of it will follow here
immediately. The inscription is of great importance, as it forms a key, so to
speak, to a whole group of related texts.

See above, p. 3.

Tour from Jcriisalein to Jaffa and the Cotintry of Samson. 131

I first of all made my way to the little hamlet called Saknet Abu K'bir,
which formed, as near as I could judge, the centre of the region to be
explored. It lies about 1,500 m. from the gate of Jaffa to the east-south-east,
and is inhabited by a body of Mussulman Arabs of Egyptian origin, who have
given it the name of Abu K'bir in memory of the so-called Egyptian place
they came from.

Many of them get a living by quarrying the beds of calcareous tufa
round their village for building materials, of indifferent quality, it must be
said, which they bring to Jaffa. In the course of some years of these
operations they have brought to light several burial caves hewn out of the
tufa. They have often found in them small marble slabs with inscriptions,
generally set round with mortar on one of the walls of the cave near the
entrance. It was one of these finds that afforded the Judeeo-Greek titnlns
that I had acquired a few months before.

In pursuance of my usual practice, I instituted a minute inquiry among
the inhabitants of the Sakneh, and thus procured some interesting information.
Two of these inscribed slabs had been put into the tomb of a woman who died
a few weeks before, by her son 'Aly el Jezawy. He was a quarryman by
trade, but was just now away harvesting. In the house of Abu Taleb there
were believed to be two inscribed slabs. Two others had been found in the
garden of El 'Azab. In the house of Mahmud Abu 'n Nil one half of a slab
had been mixed up with the mortar and used in some repairs. As a matter
of fact, I noticed a little later that several of these slabs were broken. This
is no way surprising, as the marble of this thinness is very fragile, and the
slabs often get broken through being carlessly removed from the wall of the
tomb. Several of the tombs contained glass phials.

But I got more than mere information ; some of these tituli that were still
in the possession of the inhabitants were brought to me, and I lost no time in
securing them. Others had been sold already to the superintendent of the
garden of the Russian Archimandrite, which lies near the Sakneh to the south
in the quarter where the tombs are found.

I next went to see the open tombs and reconnoitre the ground. The
necropolis extends to a considerable length, and occupies a conspicuous
position between Saknet Abu K'bir on the north, and Saknet el 'Abid on the
south. It consists of a series of banks and mounds, in the sides and bases of
which caves have been hollowed for burials. I could see apertures or
remains of vaults destroyed by the quarrymen as far as the house of El
Ja'fary on the north. Probably the necropolis extends still further to the

s 2

132

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

south, as it does to the north, but it is very difficult to trace it through these
gardens overgrown with luxuriant vegetation and set round with thick hedges
of cactus. There must undoubtedly be all over this neigbourhood a great
quantity of tombs still untouched, which would furnish important results of an
arch:eological and epigraphical nature. I should have liked very much to
make some excavations there, but for that purpose I should have needed a
permit from the Turkish Government, which, unfortunately, I have never been
able to get at any time during my mission. I therefore perforce confined
myself to this superficial, but yet not altogether fruitless investigation.

The following specimens will give some idea of these tombs, which are
rudely cut in the soft sandy tufa of the hills surrounding Jaffa, after the usual
plan of the ordinary Jewish tombs in the mountainous parts of Judcea.

NECROPOLIS OF JAFFA. — Rock-ciit Tombs. Scale -^^.

The first is to be found in the Beiyara of Nikula Halaby under a cactus
hedge. It consists of a small square chamber with a flat ceiling, and with two
steps leading down to it. On each of the three available sides two kokim
have been cut, with their openings on a level with a small bench of rock
runnino- round the chamber. Close by this we noted the remains of a similar

^•ECROPOLlS Of JAFFA.— Rock-c«t Tombs. Scale t^j.

Toiti' fi'o?]! Jc7'tisalein to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. i^'

sepulchre, rather more complicated in structure, but half destroyed by the
quarrymen.

Here again are two more that we noted in the Beiyara belonging to the
Russian Archimandrite, which is in the neic{hbourhood.

They likewise are alongside a cactus hedge.

The first, which is almost entirely destroyed, had four kokim on one of
its walls, with a fifth kok opening out of one corner. The second, which has
likewise been subjected to ill-usage, was composed of two, perhaps three,
chambers communicating with one another. At the back of three of the
kokim, and at right angles to the sides, there are visible other smaller loculi,
too small to have admitted a corpse. These, I suppose, were recesses used as
ossuaries, the remains of the first occupiers being heaped up in them to make
room for fresh comers.

Inscriptions.

I now enter on the study of the inscriptions derived from this necropolis,
with the aid of the actual originals either collected by myself or lyino- in the
garden of the Russian Archimandrite. Their number has sensibly increased
since 1874, as I copied other series in 18S1 and 1886. These, however, I
shall not now touch upon, not wishing to exceed the limits I have set myself.
They will form the subject of a later publication. I shall only quote them,
incidentally with a view to making certain instructive comparisons.

I. IVIarble Titulus. Sizeo^-26 by o'"-24. Below the inscription is the
seven-branched candlestick, flanked by two palms and
two zig-zag lines, of doubtful import.

'H^t/cia vi(a 'laa, (j)povTtcrTl, 'AXe^avSpias. |s|J~^'' (1? iO(^/'T' V^

"To Ezechias son of Isa (?), phrontistes, from IT^N'At ?i)\^s] /P

Alexandria."

'H^iKt'a is evidently the Jewish name Ezechias,
generally transliterated 'E^e/ctas, 'E^eKeto?, 'E^e^ta?,
'E^e/cia. This new transliteration shows that the name
was pronounced Izikia, in conformity with the Masoretic vocalisation
Hizekiyah, the mute sheva, e, being replaced by a furtive vowel /, which
takes its colouring, so to speak, from the reflection of the initial vowel /.*

* This law of the harmony of vowels may often be noticed in the transliteration of Hebrew
names by the Septuagint.

134 Arch(?Qlos;icaI Researches 211 Palestine.

The last letter, which also terminates the following patronymic, must be a
small cursive capital alpha,'* different from all the other capital alphas in the
inscription. It would be wrong, I think, to regard this as a mark of abbrevia-
tion and to suppose that the name was 'H{i/<:i(>?'X), for 'le^e/ctr^X, " Ezechiel."

The patronymic Icra also is certainly some Jewish name, but what one is
it? It might possibly be 'lo-aaKT, 'IcrctK:, " Isaac," on the supposition that the
final letter is a mark of abbreviation, which I doubt. It seems more probable
that it is the name " Isaiah," usually transliterated 'Hcrai'a?, " Isaias."
Moreover, we should not lose sight of the possibility of its being some popular
transliteration of the original form of the name "Jesus" (yiti^"'), bearing in
mind that very puzzling Arab form " 'Isd" the origin of which is so obscure.t

Our Ezechias was 2.phrontisies. It may be asked if this should be taken
to mean {^povTiarL ^A\e^avSpia<;) '" phrontistcs of Alexandria " or "phrontistes "
absolutely, and "native of Alexandria." I incline to the latter view, as a
simple genitive immediately after a proper name, with no word in between to
govern it, usually indicates the place the person is native of.

This title plirontistes has not yet been met with in Jewish inscriptions,
though other Greek titles appear in them, such as TrpocrrarT;?, eVtcrTaTr^?,

* This shape of the alpha is also found in the Greek papyri from Egypt subsequent to the
Christian era; indeed most of the paljeographical pecuHariiies of the Judaeo-Greek mscriptions of
Palestine recall those of the Greek writing as used in Egypt. This form of the alpha seems also
to exist in a Christian inscription at Gaza, of the sixth century perhaps, of which I shall speak
further on. With Xaa we may compare the Talmudic name ND'^5 Isa, belonging to a rabbi
who was a pupil of the rabbi Johannan (Tal. Jer. Ter. I, 40). I cannot say how far the latter
name is related to another Talmudic name, 'D'S Isi, which some have wished to identify with
one of the numerous contractions which the name of Jostph underwent.

t An attempt has been recently made to explain it by a somewhat irreverent kind of
assimilation supposed to have been formerly made by the Jews, and, after, by the Arabs, between
Jesus and Esau, .-u^aj , and iL"jj . This comparison, which is more ingenious than plausible, is
moreover not a new one. It has been already noted, in passing, by Guerin {Samaria, I, p. 42),
who had probably taken it down from the lips of some Jew, without, however, attaching any
particular importance to it. It would be most desirable to ascertain whether the fact of this
quaint assimilation has really been handed down by Jewish tradition. However this may be, I
find in the Jewish catacombs of Venosa (Ascoli, Iscn'zioni, etc., p. 55) the epitaph of a certain
Faustinas son of Is a (nib'; 'laai). The existence of a form Isa, whatever its origin may be, appears
to me therefore to be henceforward established in Graaco-Jewish onomastics of the first centuries
of our era. The most likely thing is that the name Isa is a common abbreviation of the name
Isaiah, but it is very possible that this form was not without its influence on the Arabic name of
Jesus, 'Isa, more especially as the Hebrew names Vesholi' and Yesha'yahou (and other kindred
names) are evidently related from an etymological point of view. It is well known that the
Septuagint does not hesitate to transliterate the name ol Joshua as 'I;;<7oD?.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 135

ap^utv, etc. It is, however, of common occurrence enough in ordinary Greek
epigraphy ; as, for instance, a phrontistes of the Temple of Aphrodite at
Denderah in Egypt,* and some moret mentioned along with other func-
tionaries, the phrctarc/ios, the c/ia/co/ogos, the dioikctai, etc., forming part of
th^phrctria. The phrontistes in matters civil was a sort o{ curator, appointed
to superintend, inspect and manage certain departments of municipal activity.
There were separate ones for games, water-supply, victuals, etc. There were
similarly ///;w;//.sYrt'/ in matters religious. If the title of phrontistes has not
hitherto been met with in Helleno-Jewish epigraphy, I can point to the
existence there of the verb cjipovnCetv used in a way which tends to show that
there was a phrontistes in the ancient Jewish communities ; thus in an

inscription from Rome, we hear of an apyia-vvayKiyo% (jipouTicra^ ;j in

one from /Egina, another chief of a synagogue, or neocorus, is spoken of as
<f)poi'TLaa<; for four years.§ So the title of phrontistes applied to our Ezechias
ought not to occasion any surprise. Probably he was appointed to manage
certain religious or civil concerns in the Jewish community at Alexandria.
We know that this was numerous and flourishing. Flavius Josephus,||
speaking of the general expansion of the Jewish race, that diaspora which had
disseminated them to nearly every spot in the ancient world, tells us that the
Jews were especially numerous in Egypt and Cyrenaica ; an extensive quarter
had been assigned to them at Alexandria, which formed a kind of separate
town, and they were there governed by an ethnarch of their own race who
had all the attributes of an independent chief and bore a special title, that of
Alabarch, which has never been satisfactorily explained. The Alabarch
was assisted by ^gerousia, a Sanhedrim or senate on a small scale, consisting
of seventy members, and modelled after the one at Jerusalem ; in every
quarter was a " house of prayer," in addition to the great synagogue.

Our Ezechias, in his capacity of ///ro«//.s-A-5, must certainly have played
a part in this powerful Jewish organization at Alexandria. He had wished,
like so many of his countrymen who had settled in Egypt, to be brought back
to Palestine after his death and buried in the land of his ftithcrs. Another

* Letronne, Inscriptions gr. d'Egypie, I, p. loi, No. XII.

t Co>-J>us inscr. grcec, Nos. 3612, 4716c, 5785, 57S6.

X Schurer, die Genieindeverfassung, etc., No. 45.

§ Corpus inscr. gncc, No. 9894. The person in question is a certain " Theodoros " {Jonatlian,
or Nataniali, Natlianicl), under whose supreme direction the synagogue of .lOgina had been built
and adorned with mosaics {iinuvawOi]).

II Flavius Joscphus, Aiit./., xiv, 7, 2. Cf. Strabo, Philo, and others.

136 Arclucological Researches in Palestine.

inscription in the necropolis of Jaffa, which I copied in 1881, mentions two
other Jews, also from Alexandria, called Kyrillos and Alexandres. Joppa,
the port of Jerusalem, from its proximity to Alexandria, was obviously marked
out as the landing-place for these dead from beyond the sea. This explains
why nearly all the epitaphs in the necropolis at Jaffa are, as we shall see, those
of Jews of foreign, and chiefly Egyptian origin. The more or less barbarous
style; and characters of the Greek inscriptions, often accompanied with Hebrew
words, are just what one would have expected as soon as their origin was
proved. The language of the Jews of Alexandria was Greek, but a very low
Greek, a sort of dialect that has been called Hellenistic, and must have been
rather like the Yiddish of the modern Jews. The same was the case at Ceesarea.

In addition to the religious attraction, which might have determined the
Jews of Alexandria to come and sleep their last sleep in the country where
they had not been able to live, there were further considerations calculated to
attract them thither. The Jews of Ale.xandria had a reputation for skill in
arts and industries. The Talmud tells us that they were often summoned to
Jerusalem to execute work in the Temple. This former condition of things
must have soon created a stream of re-emigration to Palestine, which
continued to make itself felt after the destruction of Jerusalem. During the
period of persecution, when the Jews were forbidden even to vjsit the Holy
city, the towns of the coast probably still remained open to them. Among
these towns Jaffa, from its position, was obviously marked out to receive these
exiles, dead or alive, who wished to return to the native land of their fathers.
This series of facts, which I content myself with briefly pointing out, is more
than sufficient to explain the Egyptian, and particularly the Alexandrian origin
of the Helleno-Jewish epitaphs in the necropolis at Jaffa. These moreover
are all later than the Christians era, as the forms of the characters show. I
shall presently discuss at greater length this question of date, when dealing
with one of these texts that virtually contains a chronological indication.

Now for one last word concerning the customs of these Egyptian Jews.
There is a very curious passage in the Talmud about the names borne by two
Jews in Egypt, amounting in substance to this : a Reuben and a Simon keep
their Hebrew names Reuben and Simon ; Reuben is not called Riifus, nor
Judah Luliani* (Julianos), nor Joseph Justus, nor Benjamin Alexandras.

* Among the new tituli collected by me at Jaffa in i88i, there is one very curious one, in
which I find in Gree/i this very transformation mentioned in the Talmud, of Julianns into
Lulianus. The epitaph runs thus: 'Haiirtlpov lla'a/Ki kui AocXini'oi" (p/ioTi-il-i'. Beneath is carved

Tour from JcTitsalcDi to laffa and the Country of Samson. 137

Our epitaphs at Jaffa, as will be seen, do present a considerable number of
Hebrew names transliterated without alteration, but with them we also find
several of these Greek equivalents, which shows that the statement of the
Talmud is only true in a general way.

2. Titulus of white marble: width o"'-28, heii^ht o"''27. — Six lines
of Greek characters. Below, the Hebrew word 01711? Shalom, " peace,"
flanked by a palm with eight branches. ^^mBKt^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Hebrew characters are of the square ^^^ ^l^^^^^^^^^^^^H

type, and extremely interesting to the ^^k^ ^J^^^^^^^^^K^

historian of Hebrew writing. Especially H^^ ^^^^^^^^^H

noticeable are the waw, with its hook ^^p ^^^^^^^^^H

to the left, furnishing an intf;rmediate ^Hk'I ^^^B^m

between the Phoenician and the square ^^b WSM

type, and the final meju, with its apex ^^E; '■

which is an organic element of the ^^k '9

Phcenician prototype ; its long stem, bent ^^K- ^

at right angles, is not yet united with B^: ^

the upper part of the letter so as to ^Bbu. .

form a closed character.

©avov/x utos St/AWj'os, ivyovLv Bi.viafuv, tov KtvTrivapiov, Trj<; llapevixfiokrj';.

" Thanum, son of Simon, grandson of Benjamin, the centurion, from
Parembole."

Bavovju. is the regular transliteration of the Hebrew name Tanhwn,
mren, which means " consolation," and has been borne by several rabbis,
either in this form or in an Aramaic form, tanhtima, N^iniA The complete
suppression of the guttural keth is the rule in Greek transliterations of
Hebrew words and names. I find the same name transliterated in the same

a small vase with a spout between two palms. 0/ Jsidoros {from ?) Pinara and Loultanos,
plirontistai." A'fioTnihv is for (j)im{v)Ti{a)iwv. These men were colleagues and co-religionists of the
grandfather of our Ezechias. It is by no means proved that ijtpoTnwv is the result of a mistake
on the part of the carver — I am rather inclined to think that it is an exact transcription of the
Greek word, which had already been thus disfigured in the jargon of the Hellenistic Jews. In
fact, the title Kt2SD"iS . 'alDiS is found in the Talmud. It evidently comes from the Greek ; some
have tried to find in it vr/xiToi, or Tr/^oVnTov ; but is it not more likely to be the altered form
(ppoTiTijt, (pfjoTCTui, the existence of which is revealed to us by this Helieno-Jewish inscription?

138 Arch^ological Researches in Palestine.

way, but with a declinable ending genitive, Soroi'/xou) in an inscription from
Tafha. in Batanaea,*

The Talmud speaks of a rabbi Tanhum of Jaffa, but this cannot
possibly be our man, as will be seen.

'^vyoviv is for kvyoviov, iyyoviov, acyoviov, diminutive of eyyovo?, ' ' grand-
son."t The Greek terminations ws, eios, ion, eiofi, were abridged in Syrian
pronunciation to is and /;/. We have abundant proof of this in Greek
inscriptions. ^ and also in the Semitic inscriptions (at PalmjTa for instance),
which contain words and names transliterated from the Greek. Quite
possibly, in a few at least of the place names ending in in which are so
common in Palestine, this termination might represent an old Greek ending
ion or eion.

The grandfather of Thanum, Benjamin, had the title Kornjvdpio^,
cenienarius, which after a certain date is equivalent to centui'io, rendered into
Greek at an earlier period by Korrvpiav and kKa.-ov-6.p-)(7)%. At first sight it
suggests itself to understand the phrase thus : tov Keirrrjvapiov ttj? -apevp.Po\ri<;,
"■ centurion of the camp ; " and one calls instantly to mind how Paul was
conducted to the Trapep-fioX-fj at Jerusalem, and how the title n">"'2n "^vl*,^ '• ruler
oi Baris, or of the Temple," still survives, having maintained itself, as a mere
figment, of course, up to the third centur)- of our era, and being still borne by
one Rabbi Aha and a certain Rabbi Jonathan. Even without going thus far,
one might easily call to mind the fortified camp {cr-parroruStov) which \"espasian
had constructed on the acropolis of Jaffa."" But these comparisons, and others
like them that could be made to any extent, would be, I think, deceptive and
illusor)". M}- opinion is that there is no connection in grammar between the
words TOV Konrfvaplov and r^s vapevp^oXTJ<;, any more than between the words
GtpovTLo-Ti and AXe^avSpCa? in the inscription before. I regard r^s Trapa'p^oXrj';
as the proper name of a fo7i/?i, put in the genitive absolute, as in the other

* Waddington, Inscript. gr. ef lat. de la Syrie, No. 2169. The personage appears to me not
of Jewish but rather of Xabatsan origin. This would prove that the name Tanhum did not
exclusively belong to the Hebrew stock of names.

t For the use of this word in Jewish-Greek inscriptions, see No. 9900 of the Corpus laser.
Gme., an inscription found at Athens, and containing the names ol Jacob and Leontios, i-novoi of
Jacob, of Csesarea. Cf. also Ascoli, Iscrizioni hebr, p. 49: Ivjoviv^^iv-ioviov (not ev-fovn, as
Ascoli reads).

+ Here is one example out of a hundred : Xmouiv for XaTouiof, " quarry," in an inscription
from Sidon.

.§ Nehemiah ii, S ; \-ii, 2. || Derenbourg, Hist, de la Pal., pp. 48, 49.

^ Flavius Josephus, Bell.jud., iii, 9, 4.

Tonr from Jerusalem to Jaffa and t lie Country of Samson. 139

kindred inscriptions from Jaffa, to show the country that Thanum came from,
and not the place where his grandfather Benjamin exercised his functions of
centenarius. One should translate it, as I have done, "from Parembole," and
not "of Parembole."

What was this Parembole ? — a town of Palestine ? Such migrht be our
first idea. There actually is, on the other side Jordan, in the land of Gilead,
a town called IlapeyLt^oXai, " the Camps," in the Septuagint and in the Jewish
Antiquities of Josephus, which repeats the Biblical narrative. This, however,
is merely the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Ma/ianaitn. It is open
to doubt whether there ever was a town in these parts that really bore
this Hellenic name and kept it. Eusebius and St. Jerome would not have
omitted to mention it, and the Onomasticon passes over in silence this name
of UapefifioXaC under the headings ^lavadij. and Maatiaim. We find, however,
three bishops of Paremboles in Palestine {tS)v UapeyL^okSiv) who have appended
their signatures in that style, namely : Peter, to the Acts of the Council of
Ephesus in 431 ; Valens {OMXr]?), to a letter of John, Patriarch of Jerusalem,
dated 51.8; and another Peter, to the Acts of the Council of the three
Palestines held at Jerusalem in 536. We know, from a most curious episode
in the life of St. Euthymius, the origin of this bishopric of Paremboles, which
was situated on the other side Jordan,* and had been created by the Saint
himself on the occasion of his converting a tribe of Saracens. Lequienf
supposes that what was meant was not a real town, but a camp of nomads
without a definite resting place, whence this name Paremboles. It is doubtful
whether this is the same as Paremboles — Mahanaim. The bishopric, which at
the time of its formation was dependent on the Metropolitan of Petra, must
have lain more to the south than Mahanaim is likely to have done. I am
rather inclined to identify it with a place that figures in the Notitia dignitatum
imperii Romani, where the " Cohors tertia felix Arabum " was in garrison "in
ripa vadi Apharis fluvii, in castris Arno7iensibtis!'\

Certainly the idea of identifying this IlapeixfioXaC with the Uapevfi^oXTJ of
our inscription is most alluring ; but I do not think it desirable to linger over

* It was dependent on the Metropolitan of Petra.

t Oriens Chrisfianus, III, p. 763, et seq. It was actually the chief of the tribe that became
its Bishop.

J The Arnon, or M'ady Mojeb, in Moabitis. The Paremboles of further Jordan and the
Casira of the ford of the Arnon may possibly correspond to the Camf (mashrita) of Luhit and
of Abarta, alluded to in a large Nabatjean inscription recently discovered at Madeba, in the
Moab land.

T 2

140 Archesological Researches in Palestine.

it. In the first place, the name is not exactly the same, and I attach a certain
importance to this discrepancy in number, the first being plural, the latter
singular. My own conclusion is that the place alluded to in our inscription is
in Egypt, the Uapeii/SoX-q which was situated on the left bank of the Nile,
between Syene and Taphis, in the direction of the Ethiopian frontier, where
the Romans had a military establishment of the first rank. A Roman legion
was still in garrison there in the fourth century. The Antonine and Jerusalem
Itineraries mention it. Meletios speaks of a ITpecr/Svrepos t^? nap€^/3o\^?.
Note that it is always Parembole, singular. It is this Parembole in Egypt,
and not the more or less problematical Parembolai of trans-Jordanic Palestine,
that I propose to regard as the native land of our Thanum, he having come
from Egypt, as well as all the little band of Jews buried in that part of the
necropolis of Joppa whence our tituli proceed.

A most interesting question is raised by the title oi centenarius borne by the
grandfather of Thanum, since it would seem to imply the possession of military
rank by a Jew. It is met with, in this same form /cevrT^mpto?, in several
inscriptions from Syria.* What we want to know is exactly what the status
of a KevTr]vdpLo<; had become at the period to which our epitaph belongs. It
must have been comparatively recent, to judge by the shape of the characters,
which are certainly a good deal later than the first century. It is probable
that the centenarius exercised certain civil functions, and that the grade was
assimilated to that of the army. He belonged to the Schola agentiuni in rcbtis,
and the agent cs in rebus were employed in negotiis publicis exseqttendis. There
certainly were several sorts of centenarii with quite different functions.t This
point of Roman and Byzantine administration is one that has hitherto not been
fully cleared up, but I cannot enter on it here. I will merely remark that in
the Code of Theodosius II, the Jews and Samaritans are expressly debarred
from exercising the functions of azentes in rebus, which would seem to show
that they had previously been admissible to them. Elsewhere in the same
document the access to an army career, aditus niiliticB, is formally forbidden to
Jews. There is, however, this restriction, that all those of them who are
agentes in rebus shall be left in their places, but for the future the prohibition
shall be absolute. We may suppose that the successors of Theodosius had to
carry the law into effect. Consequently the grandfather of Thanum, being a

* Waddiiigton, op. ci/., Nos. 2405, 24S5.

t See the T/iesaunis of Forcellini, and especially Gothofredus, Paratellon ad Codic. Tlieo-
dosianum.

TiVtr from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 141

centenarius, must have lived not much later than 450 a.d., and thus we obtain
a terminus ad qucm for the inscription of his grandson, and, generally speaking,
for the other inscriptions of the same group at Joppa, which, as far as their
palaeography is concerned, might be of any date from the fifth to the seventh
century.

3. Large Slab. — I include in this group a kindred inscription which
was dug up some time later. I copied it and took an impression of it in
November, 1874, just before I embarked on my way back to Europe.

ABBOMAP/rioYAA
A€YelTHC^^i#

BABt>HCAPToKp

'A/S/80/xapt VLOV 'Aakev'i, rrj? Ba/3eA.7;s, apT0K6(TT0v).
" Of Abbomari, son of Aalevi, from Babel, baker."

It is a very large slab of white marble, about o™"05 thick, o^'So high,
and o"' 54 broad, found in the Beiyara of Nikiila Halaby, at a depth of about
6 " cubits." On the upper portion is an inscription of three lines enclosed in
a cartouche with triangular auricles, ornamented on the right with a palm.
Below the cartouche the slab is pierced with an irregular perforation.

Abbomari is a name of distinctly Jewish character; the Hebreeo- Aramaic
forms hitherto known are Abmari, Abba Ma^'i, "^"^ 2^^, """ID t>52i<5, composed of
the words Abba, " father," and Mari, " lord." One of the princes of the exile

142 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

bore this name, and it was not unusual in the Middle Ages. In the Account
of Benjamin of Ttcdela,'^ I find several Abbamaris, one of whom was steward
to Count Raymond at Bourg de St. Gilles. The vocalization Abbomari
instead of Abbaniari is interesting, and appears to be due to the change of 0
to a which was common in Syria, as is testified by the phonetics of the Syriac
dialect and also the spelling of certain words in the Greek inscriptions of
Syria. It is confirmed, in so far as relates to the proper name we are treating
of, by another inscription belonging to the same Joppa group, which however
does not concern me here, as I noted it later on, in 1S81. In this another
'AySySo/xaprjs appears, on this occasion with the Greek termination.

'AaXeut is a curious tranliteration of the onomastical appellative Levi, in
combination with the article ""ITin, Hallevi. Hence comes the celebrated
modern name Halevy, which means in reality "the Levite."

The town of Babele has nothing to do with the famous Babylon, in spite
of the similarity of the name. The place here meant is the Egyptia7i Babylon,
the deceased having doubtless been an Egyptian like the others that have
come under our notice. This Babylon is frequently alluded to in ancient
authors. It was built on the spot destined later to become the site of ancient
Cairo, and the Arab authors speak of it under the name of Babul and
Babluk, which has been preserved as the name of one of the quarters of
Cairo. It played an important strategic part at the time of the Mussulman
conquest of Egypt. Antoninus the Martyr also saw it, and calls it Babylonia.
It is marked on the Peutinger map. Before the conquest it was the seat
of a bishopric.t Eustathius, Denys Periegetes, Strabo, Ctesias, Ptolemy,
Josephus, Diodorus Siculus, and others are acquainted with this Babylon
in Egypt, and offer various explanations of its origin. I have collected
a large amount of evidence on this question, which I consider of very
great historical importance, and will reserve my treatment of it for another
place. Suffice it to say that I have arrived at this conclusion : the Egyptian
Babylon rejDresents an old centre of Semitic colonisation dating back at
least to the Achaemenid period ; there was an Aramaic centre whose
existence accounts for the unexpected discovery in Egypt of a series of
Aramaic monuments, the real date and the character of which I elsewhere

* Asher's edition, I, p. 36 ; II, p. 14, cf. 56.

t C/;, for instance, in a Coptic fragment recently published (\me\mea.u, your/iat Asia/i^ue,
1888, II, p. 372), Apa Nuna, Bishop of the Castrum of Babylon. In this way one can easily
account for the origin of the odd looking name of Babilone, Babiloine, commonly given by the
Crusaders to Cairo : the Sultan of Babiloine in their records always denotes the Sultan of Egypt.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa aud the Country of .Vi

am son.

determined.* This Semitic, properly Aramaic settlement, never dwindled
away, even after the ephemeral rule of the Persians, and naturally attracted
to itself a considerable portion of the Jews who emigrated to Egypt. Under
the Ptolemies this Jewish element kept its ground and even increased, up to
the conquest by the Arabs ; our Abbomari of Babele was a member of it.

For the rest, he was a humble fellow enough, a simple baker, as is shown
by the word aproKo, which is short for dpTOK6{TTo<;) ; another epitaph in the
Jaffa necropolis, which I noted in iS8i, gives the word in full. Reference is
frequently made to this occupation in ancient inscriptions, especially in Egypt.t
I have noted a considerable number of examples of this in Greek papyri
from Egypt, where it is in an abridged form;]: as here, aproKo and even dproK.
Abbomari, then, pursued the calling of N'ahtom QJin;, which is frequently
mentioned in the Talmud. Considering the manners and customs of the
Jews, of which the life of St. Paul affords a typical instance, there was nothing
to prevent Abbomari being at the same time a pious man, a rabbi even, who
wished to be taken after his death to holy ground for burial. The Talmud
mentions a Rabbi Juda who was a baker by trade. Moreover our Greek
word apTOKOTTo? is to be found in the language of the Talmud, in the form
IVDpin"!^^ = apTOKOTretoi', " bakery." §

4. A marble titulus, entire, a very small size (o'"'i4 X o"'! i).

f^^. a

PHj-^HM

\p<r^

* Clermont-Ganneau, Origine perse des monuments arameens d'Egypte. Paris, 1880.

t For instance, an epitaph from Memphis (the No. 129 in the Louvre collection), 'AttoX-Xu'wio?
ij/jTOKoVo?. These references to humble callings are common in the funerary tablai in Egypt :
jiovKoXoi, " herdsman," yva<pev9, " fuller," and often in abbreviated form. Cf. also the Jew
Samuel, "worker in silk," aipijKii/no^, in an inscription at Beyrouth (Waddington, No. 1854c).

+ Notices et extraits des manuscripts, XVIII, pp. 133, 136, 142, 145. Cf. 296.

§ In the passage of the Midrash, where the name Betlileliem is explained by "house of bread."

144 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

The characters strongly incline to the cursive ; the language is barbarous :
P. Mvrjjaa 'Yov^r\ oliov 'laKO/S, ITevTaTroXtTij.
" Tomb of Reuben, son of Jacob, the Pentapolite."

'Pou^T? is for 'Pou/37yV, oitSu for vlov, etc. The isolated P before the
word iLv9iix.a is curious. I do not think it ought to be regarded as a sigle,
still less as a rudimentary chrism, a disguised Christian symbol. It looks
as if the carver had begun to inscribe the name Reuben at the top of the

epitaph, P ; then, turning the construction of the sentence, he did not

finish it, but immediately carved the word /xv^^a. " a tomb." The Pentapolis
which was the native country of the Jew has, of course, nothing to do with
the Five Cities of the Bible ; it is most probably the region of that name in
Cyrenaica, a province which, like Egypt, swarmed with Jews.

5. A small titulus of marble, entire, but irregular in form; o'"-20 X o""i i ;
o""oi25 thick. Greek characters carelessly cut and difficult to decipher.

Mt-rj/ia 'louSa Z(X)(ax, ■^'iju.t^r/ (?)
"Tomb of Juda (son of?) Zachai ; of Psimithe (?)."

Zachai is an interesting Jewish name ; it is the pure Hebrew form, without
the Greek ending, of ZaKxalo?, the name of the tax-collector at Jericho (Luke,
xix, 2, 5, 8), and of an officer of Judas Maccabeeus. The original form "'a^
which appears in the Bible (Ezra, ii, 9 ; Nehem. vii, 14, etc.), is thought to
be derived from the root y^, "to be clear" or "pure." In the language of
the Talmud Zakkai, ■'S3t, "'"'3T, means "just." The Talmud mentions a Rabbi
Zakkai of Alexandria («m:D3'7S!l) ; this takes us back to Egypt, as do most
of the inmates of this necropolis. The last word is doubtful as to its reading.
I suppose it indicates the name of some Egyptian village, the initial Psi,
which can be read with certainty, being invariably significant of this. Com-
pare the Egyptian place-names Psinaphthos, Psinekiabes, Psittachcnnnis, all
made up with the Egyptian article P.

Tour from Jerusalevi to Jciffa ami the Country of Si

amsou.

145

6. Fragment of a marble titulus, with more than half the left side gone.
Height o'"'26, thickness o"''03. Consists of the ends
of four lines of well-cut Greek characters.

ava

atea (or \)

veaiT

Below is the seven-branched candlestick, the right
side only remaining, with the horn for holy oil at the
side of it. Granting that the candlestick occupies the
middle of the original slab, I should propose the following
restoration, which just fills up the available space.

'M.VTjiJi.a Mjava
\fiiLov K]aX 'E\
[ ov] Neavr

\o\iT\(x)V.

" Tomb of Manaemos [Menaheiii) and of El the Neapolitans."

The name of the second personage might be 'EXea^apo? or 'RAa^apo?,
or some other name beginning with El. The Neapolis that was the home
of these two need not necessarily be Sichem in Samaria ; considering the
Egyptian origin of the greater part of the Jews whose epitaphs 1 have
found at Joppa, I should rather say that the Neapolis in Egypt, or better still
in Cyrenaica, is here alluded to.

7. A quite small titulus of marble, cut in a roughly elliptical form.

Two lines, enclosed in a cartouche with auricles, merely marked in outline.

B>jo-as Nwou, " Besas, son of Nonos." Besas is an Egyptian name.
Nonos is for Nonnos. Nothing in these
names points to the Jewish nationality of the
deceased. However, in another inscription
at Joppa, noted by me in 1881, I have found
a certain Nonna, mother of Levi, who con-
sequently is a lewess, which would seem to
show that the names Nonnos, Nonos, were
in use among the Jews. Despite the absence
of any characteristic symbol, I am inclined to think that the titulus of Besas is
of Jewish origin like the group to which it belongs.

i_[^6 Aj-cha-o/ooicai Rescanhcs in I'akslinc.

8. A litulus of marble, entire. Height o'"-30, lenyth o"-2 2, breadth o'"-05.

"Kvva ElXaaCov, "Anna, daughter of Eilasios." EtXao-ios is a new proper name

The name Anna is indication enough of the Jewish origin of the deceased.
9. A titulus of marble, found in the gardens ; it is broken, at least half

FPOc

of the left side being gone,
thickness o"''02.

Height o™-2 2,

breadth o™-i35,

Tpo';

Tiva (or yt:

This seems to be the tomb of a woman : 'Tomb of so-and-so,

aughter {Ovyarpo^) of so-and-so." Beneath is the Hebrew word

shaloiii, " peace," in very small square characters. I give an enlargement of this.

It is followed by another Hebrew word in large characters, the first

/'I being a koph and the second perhaps a shin or a yod (?).

b/j ^-jy ) These forms are interesting for the history of the develop-
I y ^^ ment of the ancient square Hebrew writing, which gave
rise to the character now in use.

10. Fragment of a marble titulus, with an inscription in large characters.
The letters are five or six inches high. Thickness o"''025.

The beginning of the first two lines is
L\ /\ all that is preserved :

^^ I Mi^rjjLia

TjVOV K\_ai\

A small curved mark, cut beneath the omicron,
but omitted in the drawing, seems to show-

that there was a third line at least.

" Tomb of ... . cnos, and of , '' "

To7tr from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 147

II. M. Vidal, a French merchant established at Jaffa, told me that about
three months before he had had offered to him for sale a fragment of stone
found in the gardens. It was small and flat, and measured about o'""20 by
o"'"20, and had cut on it three (?) lines of Greek characters, the first of which
ran thus :

AOYKIANOCK

From these indications I suppose it must have been the right side of the
funerary titulus, broken or cut in two, of the same character as those previously
described, and beginning thus : Aou/ctavos K(at)

Another Jewish Inscription. — To this series of Helleno-Jewish inscriptions,
which I have, I may remark, considerably increased in the course of my later
visits to Palestine, there should be added, I think, another fragment which from
its nature is connected with them, though it
does not come from Joppa. There is a quite
small piece of marble that I saw in 1871 in
the possession of the Rev. W. Bailey, at
Jerusalem, who told me that it came from
Csesarea. In its then condition it was not
more than four inches long. Some fragments
of mortar still adhering to the marble pointed
to the fact that the slab had been let into the
wall of the sepulchre, like the Jaffa tituli. Here is a reproduction of it
from a squeeze that I took at the time. The ends only are left of two Greek
lines : . . . . [reJKi'a .... ;)(;ia?.

Below and separated from the Greek text by a border of small crossed
strokes, are carved the Hebrew characters followino- :

[V^^-ltir^ h'\V ^-h^., " Peace on (Israel) :"

I restore the formula in full from the inscription in the catacombs at Rome
and Venosa. In front of the Hebrew epitaph there was doubtless the seven-
branched candlestick — the upper part of the three branches on the left is still
visible. Judging from the position of the candlestick, it seems probable that
the epitaph inscribed above it was divided into two registers or columns ; the
Greek characters remaining belonged to the left hand column. We know

u 2

148

Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

from the Talmud that Csesarea, like Alexandria, was an important Jewish
centre, where the knowledge of Greek was so widely spread that the Torah
was read there in a Greek targum.

Stamped Amphora-handles. — I finally found the possessor of the amphora-
handles with stamps on them, which I mentioned before (p. 3), and which I
had not managed to get a sight of when passing through Jaffa in November

of the year before. The owner in question was
called Nikiila Beiruty. I secured these handles,
which were found in a " cave " in the Saknet Sheikh
Ibrahim, to the south of Jaffa. It appears that
in the course of digging in the gardens on the hills
to the east of the sakneh, ancient sepulchres are
often broueht to light. There must be hereabouts
another burying-ground belonging to Joppa, distinct
from the one on the east, and perhaps more ancient.
These remains of amphora;, in fact, belong to a
much less late joeriod than the Helleno- Jewish
tituli of the eastern necropolis, which seem to have
been set apart for a special class of persons.

These handles formed part of a large vase,
which can be restored, in part at least, in shape and dimensions.

They have every feature of the Rhodian ware : square shape, greyish
colour, fine paste. The stamps impressed on them go to confirm this

diagnosis.

YAi^flN^^ioV

['EttI . . . ^fDvo<;.

'TaKivdiov.

A name of a magistrate in the genitive case, ending in wvos,* preceded
by the preposition eVl, and the name of the Rhodian month Hyakinthios.
The indistinct symbol accompanying the characters is elsewhere found as
a mark on Rhodian pottery. At Jerusalem, about 1868, I picked up
in the valley of the Kedron an amphora handle likewise of Rhodian make.

* Some such name as''E/j/ufi'09. Zi/rwco^ or 'I.'/noi'os etc., which are to he found on other
stamps on Rhodian pottery.

Tour fnvn Jcnisalnn to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 149

with the mark AaXiov (the month Dalios) TTicrrou ; "emblem, an arrow-

head." It is interesting to note at two spots in Palestine positive indication
of the importation of Rhodian pottery.

Various Inscriptions. — Now for a few other inscriptions, which I collected
at Jaffa, but which do not belong there.

Profile and Section.

Scale !.

Two objects now in the collection of the Russian archimandrite are
said to have come from the ruins of M'khaled, which lies near the coast,

150 Archcsological Researches in Palestine.

about twenty-four miles to the north of Jaffa. I have my doubts as to
the authenticity, not of the objects themselves, but of their origins. It would
not surprise me to hear that they came in reality from Cyprus. Later on I
saw various antiquities at Jaffa which certainly came from that island. The
.shape of these two objects, the character of the stone, the appearance of the
characters, and also the formulas used in the inscriptions, give me that
impression. However this may be, here they are : —

1. A funerary cippus of limestone, cylindrical, and moulded at the top
and bottom. Height o^'sS. On the upper and lower sides (at a and is) is
a square hole for fastening. On the drum, in characters of the first century
of our era, rather carelessly cut :

Wp(ojap^i<; Ttri'ou, yjp-qcnr], -yaxp^.
" Protarchis, daughter of Titios, blessed one, farewell !"

Protarchis is a new female name ; it is the feminine corresponding to the
common man's name Upwrapxo^.

2. A large slab of limestone, broken at the bottom, moulded in the upper
part, the base a little wider than the top. Width on top o"''30, a little
lower o"'"3o ; height o"'77 ; thickness o'""o6.

ElZIAOTMAPlZTa'
HOZ XPj-lZTl-l
XAIPEr

Characters of the first century a.d.*

" Hisidote, daughter of Ariston, blessed one, farewell !"

Above the name of the deceased the funeral cry x<^'p£ ^

occurs again, scratched in graffito. /it:

EtcrtSoTTy is for 'lo-tSorr?, "Gift of Isis." The purely Greek name
Ariston has been borne by several Syrian personages of Semitic extraction.
The funereal formula has nothing to mark it as Jewish.

They are of exactly the same period as those of the sk/e of the Temple of Herod.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jajfa and the Country of Sauison.

i=;i

The following inscriptions were similarly collected by me at Jaffa, but
they do not belong there.

Roman Inscription. — A large block of marble, in shape a parallelopiped,
o"''S5 by o"''2 5, brought from Caesarea to Jaffa, and now used as a step in the
staircase of the house of the late M. Philibert, French consular agent in that
town. It was most probably the base
of a statue. The inscription, carved in
very fine characters, may be of the
period of Nero. It is enclosed within a
cartouche with triangular auricles. In
the centre of the auricles are seen two small knobs, representing the heads
of the nails used in fixing the primitive wooden board of which this type of
cartouche is a conventional representation.

Ti[berio) Cl[audio) Italico p{rimi) p[i/o). This is a dedication to
Tiberius Claudius Italicus, primipilus of the Roman garrison of Caesarea.
This officer must have been rather an important personage to have such a
fine monument erected to him. The primipilus was the chief centurion of
the legion and ranked immediately after the tribune. He could even be
called upon, in certain cases, to replace the tribune in his command.

Christian Inscription. — A broken piece of a marble column, in a house at
Jaffa. From Caesarea (?). On the shaft the following, in characters roughly
and not deeply cut :

r,'j?»-,:

K(vpt)e, 'l(7yc7o)i/, XptoT)e,, /3{oy]0)e{L) rio
So(u)X.a) aov.

" Lord Jesus Christ, help thy servant."

Copies of Inscriptions. — Jibrail 'Akkawy showed me a rough copy of two
Greek inscriptions taken by Martin.* In one of these I deciphered —

on the other —

CABEINOCCTPATHriOY
EnAHPWCEN . ..

AHMHTPI ANOC

ERAHPIOCEN.

I'lobably Martin Lulus, of Jerusalem.

15^

Arclucoloziccil Rcscarc/us in Pa/cst

'StllW.

Here evidently we have two epitaphs, with the mention of the number
of years in the life of the deceased {iTrXyjpoa-ev, "he accomplished, lived;"
with letters standing for numbers) ; the first relating to Sabinos, son of
Strategios, the second to Uemetrianos. It remains doubtful whether these
two inscriptions belong to Jaffa.

Slab from the tomb of a Bishop of the Crusaders. — While exploring the
gardens round Jaffa to find the exact position of the ancient burying-ground, I

|Wai(|T0pr-ii5j|j

penetrated as far as the wely of Sheikh Murad, which lies on the extreme
edge of the gardens, in the north-east corner, about 2500 m. from the town.
The Sanctuary is guarded by an old Mussulman, who told me he had found
close to the Kubbeh a large inscription and bas-relief The object had been
removed by someone whose name he did not know. Finally, after much
searching, I discovered that this someone was a converted Jew, and found the

Toitr from Jcntsakiu to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

stone in question at his house. Afterwards, in 1881, I again saw the original
in the possession of Baron Ustinoff, who had acquired it meanwhile from its
possessor.

This important fragment, for such it is, consists of a slab of veined white
marble, measuring at the present time o'"7o by o"''55, and only o'"'05 in
thickness. Even this fragment is broken into two portions, which fit one
another exactly.

Here we see, carved in outline, a full face representation of a man with
shorn beard, with a mitre on his head, and holding in his left hand the
episcopal crozier. It is hard to say, a priori, whether this is a bishop or an
abbot with crozier and mitre, the rule as to the position of the crozier on the
right or left side being far from absolute in the Middle Ages. The head and
shoulders are surrounded with a trilobated arcade resting on a small column
with a capital. In the right portion of the arcade there is represented a
winged angel, with a nimbus, carrying incense, which he wafts round the head
of the deceased. This bit is wonderfully life-like. The whole of the drawing
is remarkably bold and decided, and recalls at first sight the 13th century
style. Evidently we have here the remains of one of those flat tombs, sunk to
ground level, that were so numerous at this period. I am much inclined to
think that the slab was not only carved, but inlaid, as the grooves of the
letters have vertical sides, and were probably destined to be filled with a hard
coloured paste. One can further notice some deep holes on the mitre and the
crozier, where enamel and coloured glass were let in, to imitate precious stones.
This slab must have represented the deceased at full length, but all that is left
of it is the left half of the head as far as the j^lace where the shoulders spring
trom. The primitive slab must have been divided into five or six pieces ; I
shall endeavour presently to determine the date when this occurred.

All round the figure of the deceased there ran a Latin inscription in
mediseval letters, foniiing a kind of border. This it is possible to restore in
part. It commenced apparently at the left hand top corner of the slab, then
turning downwards it passed along the right side, the long way of the stone,
and continued along the other two sides till it ended where it started from.

The following is my reading, the parts that can be restored with certainty
being enclosed in brackets : —

\^ Anno (t[onii)ni niillcsinif) dnccntcsinio, qin{ii)qnagcsinio octavo, in festo
sanctorum {O . . . or C, perhaps A/ ?).

" i^ In the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and fifty-eight, in
the day of the feast of the saints . . ?"

154 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

The day mentioned may be, according as the last letter, which is partly
obliterated, is read O or C, either the feast oi All Saints {SanctoTuni Oiiiiiiuiit),
that is to say November i, or else that of Saints Cosme and Damian, that is
to say September 27. The date of the year is beyond doubt, it is 1258.
What high functionary of the Church can this have been ? A bishop, or an
abbot with crozier and mitre ? If a bishop, was he Bishop of Jaffa, and was
there a bishopric of Jaffa at the time of the Crusades ? Does the stone belong
to Jaffa itself," or was it, as so often happens, transported from some other
place on the coast ? I have elsewheret entered into a detailed discussion of
these different points. They are difficult to settle with precision, and I am
not concerned to recur to them now — it would take me too far — but some day
perhaps I will. There is however one peculiarity that I cannot refrain from
mentioning, the stone is opisthographic. The back has subseqently been
covered with an Arabic inscription, which I will merely give here in transla-
tion : — \

" In the name of the forgiving and merciful God. — Of a certainty, he
builds (or restores) the mosques of God, who believes in God, and in the day
of resurrection, who prays, who gives alms, and fears God only ; it may be
that there will be among those that follow the right road (Koran, s^erat IX,
verse 18). — The building of this blessed mosque (mesjed) was ordered by the
humble Emir and poor before God most High, Jemal ed Din . . . son of Ishak,
on whom may God have mercy. In the year seven hundred and thirty-six."

This Arabic inscriptions is arranged in such a way on the reverse ot the
fragment of gravestone, as to prove that the original slab was already divided
into five or six pieces in the year 736 of the Hegira, answering to the year
1335-1336 of our era. It was about this date that a piece of the slab, in
shape nearly square, was cut away and the Arabic inscription engraved on the
back. It is most annoying that we have not the full name of the Emir Jemal
ed Din, for this would enable us the more easily to find mention of him in
Arab writers. Then it would appear if he was Emir of Jaffa or of some other
town on the coast, in which latter case Jaffa w^ould not have been the first
home of the stone of the Crusaders, and in this roundabout fashion we
might perhaps succeed in establishing the identity of the deceased, who was
contemporary with the Crusade of St. Louis.

* As far as history is concerned, there is no reason why not, as Jaffa only fell finally into the
hands of the Mussulmans ten years afier the date of our inscription, that is to say in 1268.

t CXermorA-GaxmeaM, Afateriaux inedits pour servir a rhisioire des Croisades. Paris, 1876.
X The .Vrabic transcription is given in the memoir quoted above.

Tour from Jcmisakiu to Jaffa and the Coujitry of Samson.

Crusading Inscriptions. — Here is yet another mediaeval inscription found
at Jatta. It is a fragment of a marble block, and was used to cover a sewer
in one of the streets of Jaffa. (o'^TJ by o'^^j, thickness o°'"i5.) The
original was acquired by the Russian archimandrite. The characters are of
the 1 2th or 13th centur\% and splendidly cuL

••»;:B r— ;»' »ESa?.^_

en;nv6vsTvs:i^

All that is left consists of two imperfect lines and the remains of a third.
The upper line, to judge from a fragment of border, must have been the verj-
first of this monvmiental inscription.

J S€7np^r Augustus I\jnperator\

anno donii?i\i/re incarnati\ onis^

" //-? . . . ."

The second line doubdess contained the date, reckoned, as the custom of
the Crusaders was, from the Incarnation of Christ.

The restoration of the first line was suggested to me by M. Schlum-
berger. This essentially Roman formula is foimd on medals of the Emperor
Frederick II : Fredei-icus Ronmnotmii imperafor semper Augustus. It may
accordingly be supposed that our inscription, which is certainly not funerax)-,
but must relate to the construction or dedication of some great building,
originates from the Emperor Frederick, who passed several months at Jaffa
between 1228 and 1229. Yet the block may have been brought from Acre or
Qesarea. In any case, not only did Frederick stay at Jaffa long enough to
make it possible for him to have had works carried out, but that town was
one of the places which he induced the Mussulmans to cede to him after the
'• Evil Peace." In 1229 or 1230 the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who had conse-
crated the Emperor Frederick King of Jerusalem, had built two towers at

X 2

1^6

Arclhcolooical Researches in Palestine.

Jaffa." If this fragment of inscription is really to be attributed to Frederick,
I would like better to restore the first line as follows, in exact conformity
with the imperial formula :

\_Fjrdericiis, Ronmnornui imperator semp\er Atigiistits, I\eriisalcm rex\, etc. . .
In fact, on examining my squeeze closely, the carved stroke following
the I at the end of the first line looks to me like the remains of an € rather
than an C^ w, or an O.

Alleo-ed Inscription. — I was told of another fragment of an inscription
built into the wall of the town, and from the description given me, I suspect
it also to be mediaeval. Unluckily, however, I could not manage to test the
truth of this statement. It may perhaps be a fragment that I found in 1881,
referring to the King of England.

Miscellaneous Antiquities. — While ransacking the place right and left for
antiquities, I found at the house of a Mussulman, one Hadji Mohammed Abu
Kaiid, who conveys stones from the ruins of Caesarea by sea to use for
building in Jaffa, a fragment of a marble statue brought from the first-named
town. It is a life-size statue of a woman, unfortunately much mutilated.

t,\ \}\XU

I '^.

Side view.

View fvom behind.

The head and the whole of the lower part of the body are wanting. The
woman was draped in a peplum girt round the waist, and fastened by a fibula
on the right shoulder, which is left bare. The carving is tolerably good
Grseco-Roman work.

* Philip of Novara, Gestes des Cliiprois, p. 77. — In 1227 Frederick had had Jaffa "closed"
[Annates de Terre Sainic).

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa ami llic Count rv of Sauisoit.

.1/

1 bought the fragment for a trifle, in order to save it from utter destruc-
tion, for it was intended to be put in a lime-kihi or hidden away in some mass
of masonry.

Ancient Sarcophagus. — -We noticed in an Arab sebil (fountain) on the

1=^8

A rclurolooical Researches

111

Palcsfine.

edge of the road to Jerusalem, on the right just before you get to Jaffa, a fine
ancient sarcophagus used as a trough. This is the fate that commonly befalls
sarcophagi; the Arabs make in this way what they call niekcr (..C<) or ran
(c^l')-* The front side is ornamented with festoons hanging on small columns,
and surmounted by three flowers or ornamented disks of different patterns.
Inside on the left the bottom is raised so as to form a dorniitorium for the
head of the deceased. This detail would of itself suffice to show the original
puqjose of this fine relic of antiquity.

Ancient base. — In a garden situated just a little to the east of the
town, and belonging to the Greek convent, I saw a fine, large marble base,
rectangular, with moulding at top and bottom, but no inscription. It was
dug up in the garden itself, and at the same time a quantity of marble
slabs, also devoid of inscriptions, was discovered.

Medicvval Scitlpturc. — Passing through the streets of Jaffa we noticed a
piece of carving built into the wall of a house. The subject represented was
original in idea, and should doubtless be referred to the time of the Crusades,

being two monkeys, one of them tied up by the middle, gambolling over what
appear to be shells of some sort. The stone is a piece of a corner frieze.

The Bassa. — During the heavy winter rains, ponds of considerable extent
are formed in the garden to the east of Jaffa. The largest of these marshy
ponds, almost a small lake, lies between the town and the Saknet Abu K'bir.
It goes by the. name of Bassa l^^ which is used in other parts of Syria for

* Mckcr probalily conies from the root niakat; which means among other things "to water a
field." The derivation of the word rrt« is extremely interesting, it being merely the old Hebrew
word aron, p■^^^, "ark, chest, sarcophagus," with the initial aleth removed by the usual apocope.

Toitr front Jerusalem to Jaffa ami the Country of Satuson. 159

similar ponds. On seeking the signification of this word in Arabic, the very
unsatisfactory one of " red-hot or burning coal " is all that can be found ; but
if on the other hand, the Hebrew language be referred to, it will appear
immediately that the word is one of the many old words that have survived
in the speech of the natives of Syria. In fact, the very word, njJl bissah, is
found in the Bible, meaning a " lake" or " marsh." " Can the rush grow up
in a place that is not marshy?"* Hl'l K7i, says job (viii, 11). Further on
(xl, 21) he describes to us the monster Behemoth resting " in the covert of the
reed and fens," ni'm TM'^ inDl. The same word occurs again in Ezekiel (xlvii,
11), in the form n^?2n. It has been preserved in the language of the Talmud.
Commentators and lexicographers {cf. Gesenius and Fiirst) derive this word

from a hypothetical root y^l, to which, relying on the Arabic j., badhdha,
they ascribe the meaning " paulatim fluxit et emanavit aqua." This supposition,
it appears to me, is erroneous. Knowing as we now do that the word bassa
exists in Arabic with the same meaning as in Hebrew, we cannot connect this
word with the Arabic root badhdha. On the contrary, I am of opinion that
these words, both the Hebrew and Arabic, which mean "pond," may be
adequately explained by the Arabic root bassa, taking it in its ordinary
acceptation, to "shine, gleam, sparkle." The connection in meaning evidently
is the " sparkling " of a large sheet of water in the sunshine. This is precisely
the idea which led to this word being used to mean a "burning or red-hot
coal." We might pursue these comparisons further, and show that the word
'am, which like bassa is common to the Hebrew and Arabic, and ]3ossesses in
each language the two not less widely separated meanings of "spring " and
"eye," has in its turn borrowed these from one and the same primitive idea.
In any case, as we have seen, the Bassa of Jaffa furnishes us with a small
lesson in practical and topographical exegesis which is by no means without its
value.

Szmdries. — I append some items of information gathered at Jafta from
the mouths of various inhabitants : —

At Neby Rubin, in the inahjara worked as a quarry, above Hahxzoii,
there is "a stone with writing on it, and a head of a small statue of a man ;"

At Mejdel Yaba there is an ancient inscription in the house of
Mohammed es Sadek ;

* " \\'ithout mire,'' in note, .Xuliioiised Version.

i6o Arclueoloirical Researches in Palestine.

At Saferiyeh an ancient burial cave* has been recently found and opened ;

At Selemeh there are sarcophagi and inscriptions ;

At el Midieh there really is an inscription, but not at the Khurbeh. It
is quite near the village, by the side of a wely situated towards the north, on
the door of an ancient sepulchre (?).

Selemeh. — On visiting for the second time the village of Selemeh, which
we had passed through on our way to Joppa, and which is quite near that
town, I noted nothing of any great interest, despite the glowing accounts I
had heard of it. There is a wely taking its name from the place, and called
Sheikh Selemeh (pronounce Selemeh, as a dactjl). Klmrbet Jains, a few
minutes to the east, is situated on a low hill, from which quantities of ancient
hewn stones and fragments of marble are got. We even saw there a capital,
which would seem to show that some building of importance existed there.
There are no inscriptions, but, however, it is a spot to be explored at some
future time.

From Jaffa to YebnA.

We left Jaffa on Monday, June 15th. My plan was to make southwards
as far as Ascalon, and from there to fall back on Jerusalem, crossing the
region that may be called Samson's country.

Btr edh Dhabe\ — We started at 8.35 A.^r. from our encampment, where
for four days we had had a curious band of N'7.var, or Arab gipsies, as " next
door" neighbours. We kept along the sea-shore, and at 9.55 reached the
well of Bii- edh Dhabe', " the Hyena's Well," which lies actually on the beach.

A Sea Serpent. — From here we kept steadily southwards, making for the
mouth of the Nahr Rubin, which we reached at noon. On our way we saw a
small snake of no great thickness and of a greyish-yellow colour, diverting
itself in a singular fashion. It was wriggling on the sand, with its head
pointed seawards, and kept dipping itself into the small waves as they broke
on the beach, looking for all the world as if it were taking a sea-bath, or
was the creature engaged in catching its prey ? So absorbed was it in these
evolutions that it let us approach without moving, and not until it was almost
beneath the horses' hoofs did it rear itself with a hiss, its eyes gleaming,
to attack us. A blow from a kurbash cut short the reptile's aquatic

* I was able to test the truth of this statement in 188 1. What is really there is a large
sarcophagus with a cover, exactly like the one we noted at Neby Danian (see further on).

Tojir Jroni Jcnisalcni to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

i6i

gambols. I can give no further indication of its species, and much regret
that I did not bring away the body. I wish to direct the attention of naturaUsts
to these facts, which may be unfamiHar to them.

'Ain cd Dckdkin. — Just after fording the wide estuary of the Rubin by
means of tlie bar that it forms as it falls into the sea, we found at the foot of
the rocky cliff a spring of fresh water welling up from several holes in the sand
of the beach, at about eleven yards from the sea. It is called 'Ain ed Dekdkin,
"the spring of the arch-works," on account of the ancient tombs hewn in the
neighbouring cliff.

The fellahin, it should be said, give the name of Dekdkin, the plural form
of Dnkkdn, to the ancient tombs, on account of the locidi, whether arcosolia or
kokim, which open into a sort of bench or platform running round the burial-
chamber. They have thus preserved the primitive meaning of the word,
which in the Arabic of the towns means nothing but " shop." This latter
signification is derived from the conformation of Oriental shops, which consist
of an arch with a bench beneath it. This sense of the word is quite ancient ;
it is the dnkan, dnkana, or dakkon (]"l3"r. s:3"n, pit) of the Talmud.

Quite near the spring, and a little to the south, there are, in fact, several
tombs hewn out in the side of the low cliff, some accessible, others half buried
in soil. Many others must be hidden under the sand. In past times there

PLAN AND VIEW OF TOMll NEAR NAUR
RUBIN. Sc.-ile -ji^.

was quite a little necropolis there, extending to Khiirbet ed Dabbeh. Here are
some specimens of these tombs, which arc hewn with great care,* one with a

* In 1 88 1 I collected rather a large quantity of objects that had formed part of the contents
of several tombs in the necropolis of Neby Rflbin. (See my Rapports siir xine mission en Palestine

ct en Pi'ihiicie, y\>. 68 -74.)

l62

Arclueoloiyical Researches in Pales fine.

small semicircular chamber, the other with a square chamber, in three walls of
which kokim are hollowed out, three on each available wall.

PLAN AND SECTION OF TOMB NEAR NAHR RUBIN. Scale ■^.

/ -V.

,%I|I|IIH '"1.1

-<-\ A

.'Section on A B.

The sea-shore forms at this place a small creek, where the ground rises
in successive terraces like an amphitheatre. A huge pile of rocks is visible in
the sea, that once served apparently for the mole of a harbour.

Ed Dabbch. — The ruins are most conspicuous towards the south. In the
direction of the promontory there are remains of an enclosure-wall, formed of
stones of small size solidly cemented together. A little higher up, to the east,
is a small rectangular birkeh of masonry, and a little aqueduct or canal, with
pipes of terra-cotta, which starts from one corner of it, and after a course of a
few yards opens on to a sort of square platform paved with flags.

A prodigious quantity of fragments of pottery, of marble slabs, columns,
glass, mosaic-cubes, etc., lie scatterecl over the sand-heaps. One small tell in

Tour from Jerusalem to Jofja aud tJic Couuiry of Samson.

i6-

particular is literally covered with them. The layer of sand is quite superficial,
being not more than an inch or an inch and a half thick ; below it comes the

VIEW NEAR NEBY Rl IIIN.

black soil, also containing potsherds. In the course of turning over the
rubbish, we came across a small piece of a terra-cotta vase, having scratched
upon it, in Greek characters of the Christian period, the name of Athanasios,

GREEK INSCRIPTION ERO.M KH. PAIillE.

Half the original size.

'A^avacri?, instead of 'A^ai'acrio?, by virtue of the before-mcMitionecl Syrian
pronunciation of the finals, which converts ios and ion into is and ///.

The promontory itself is called cd Dabhch, the adjacent ruin, I\hiirhct cd
Dabbeh. and also Tdtura (particularly on the side fronting die spring of 'Ain
ed Dekakin). There seems to have been here a town with its burying-ground,
and a litde harbour defended by the belt of rocks which rise out of the sea
some distance out, and a small sea fort, still called by the Arabs KaTat ed
Dabbeh, commanding the coast. From this there is a clear view of Jafifa to the
north, and of Neby Yunes to the south towards Esdud ; and signals could be
easily exchanged between the three points. The ruins are worked by the
Arabs for building material, and the rocks forming the cliffs by the quarrymen.
The latter form the quarry called Mahjarat Rillnu. This spot might be
worth excavating. It represents beyond doubt, as has been admitted long

Y 2

164 ArchcEological Researches in Palestine.

since, the port of Jamneia, or rather the Jamneia on the sea coast mentioned
by Ph'ny and Ptolemy, which formed a separate town, and played an important
part in the time of the Maccabees.

Neby Rfibin. — From here we deviated somewhat in a north-east direction
as far as the wely of Neby Rubin. The place was utterly deserted at the
time, and the wely shut, but it is the object of extraordinary veneration, and
every year a great festival is held there, to which the Mussulmans crowd from
several leagues round.* This most popular pilgrimage is doubtless connected
with an ancient tradition relating to some old Semitic divinity under the guise
of Riibui, which name to a Mussulman means Reuben, the son of Jacob.
This is true in the case of the no less popular pilgrimage made every year to
the Haravi of 'Aly ben A'leim, at Arsnf, which, as I have elsewhere shown,
is simply the sanctuary of the Phoenician god Reseph, who gave his name to
the town oi Arsiif.

What divinity is hidden from us beneath the mysterious form of Rubin ?
In answering this query, it has to be borne in mind, before all things, that the
name Riibin is that of the river, the Nahr Rubin, near the mouth of which is
situated the sanctuary of the homonymous, and probably eponymous neby.

There is nothing in the Bible, so far as can be seen, which appears to
relate to this river, important though it was in the hydrographic system of
Judaea. By means of considerations which it would take too long to set forth
here, I have arrived at the conclusion that the river Rubin is actually mentioned
in the Bible, but in such a way that it was, I admit, hard work to find it.

The end of the north border of the territory of Judah, coming over from
Ekron way, crossed the "mountain of Baalah " before terminating at Yabneel
and the Mediterranean.+ All search made on the spot for this "mountain"
has been vain, and naturally enough. For a long time past the border
described by Joshua has left the mountainous region to pass through the
lower lying region of the Shephelah and even the plain itself. Between
Ekron and Yabneel ('Aker and Yebna) there is nothing but mounds of the most
insignificant size, utterly unworthy of the name of mountain. I am persuaded
that the primitive Hebrew text read not : liar hab-Baalah rhv1r^ in, " the

* At a later period, in i88r, it was my good fortune to be present at tliese festivities, and to
observe the very curious ceremonies connected with them. Mujir ed Din calls this annual
festival a mawsem, and informs us that the sanctuary was built by Sheikh Chehab ed Din, son of
Arslan {Biilak Text, p. 420). He writes the name Riibin, Rubil.

t Joshua XV, 1 1.

Tour from Jcntsalcin /o Jaffa and t lie Country of Samson. 165

mountain of Balaah," but \jia^Iiar hab-Baalah, nTii'^n ~in[;], "the river of
Balaah." This confusion of nahar, "river." with /lar, "mountain," is a
perfectly natural copyist's error, produced merely by dropping the initial ;/.
This is just what has occurred, for instance, in Arabic, in the case of the name
of the river (^^Ujs Harmds* the ancient Mygdonius, which is a wrong reading
in Assemani for Nahar Mas, the river of the mountain of Masion {M.aai.ov),
above Nisibis.t The arm of the Euphrates which was deflected by
Nebuchadnezzar, and is called in Ammianus Marcellinus by its real name,

Naarmalcha " quod ' amnis regum ' interpretatur," becomes in Pliny

(VI, 26), slrmalchar, "quod significat )rgium fumcn," and in Eusebius;): it is
wofully mutilated into \\pixaKd\-qv Ylorajiov. These are conclusive instances of
the possible disappearance of the initial n from the word nahar alike on
Semitic as on Greek and Roman ground.

Accordingly it is not a "mountain," but a "river" of Baal that we
must look for between Ekron and Jabneel. The old god of Canaan,
Baal, who gave it his name, has suffered the usual change ; local tradition,
faithful to his memory, I may add, to his cult, has transformed him into
Reuben, son of Jacob. Precisely under the same circumstances the river
Adorns, to the north of Beyrout, has been converted by the Arabs into Nahr
Ibrahim, "river of Abraham." In this case Abraham takes the place of the
Phoenician god Adonis§ for exactly the same reasons as Reuben in the
present instance takes the place of the god Baal. It is a matter of common
knowledge that rivers as well as mountains among the Semites were personi-
fied into divinities. I could cite case after case of this even on the coast of
Syria, but will confine myself to a single one, which has the further advantage
of proving at the same time that rivers were in existence called after Baal

* By a curious coincidence we happen to have in the neighbourhood of Nahr Rubin, to the
north of Zernuka and quite near it, a ruin of the same name, Kluirhet Harinas.

t Noldeke, Zcitschr. d. D. Morg. Gesellsch., XXXIII, p. 328.

X Prepar. Evangel., IX, 41.

§ To corroborate this substitution of the patriarch Abraliain for Adonis, which is quite local
and absolutely certain, I will venture to point o\it a rather curious fact, which tends to show that
the identity holds good all along the line. .'Velian {Nat. An., g, 36) tells us of a certain fish
bearing the name of the Phoenician god ('Arici/^, Efyniol. mag., 'Acwinli). Now all along the
coast of Phoenicia there is found a fish of some rarity and held in great esteem, a kind of red
mullet, I think, but I cannot state its species exactly, though I have eaten it several times. This
fish is called Sultan Ibrahim, from which name, taking as our basis the conversion of river Adoni.<;
into Nahr Ibrahim, we get exactly the fish Adonis, with the addition of a reminder of the proper
meaning of Adoii (" Lord, master") in the word Sultan.

1 66 ArcJucological Researches in Palestine.

This is the faniftus Belns at Acre, with its nuich-venerated INIemnonium ; this
Galilaean river Baal has been transformed by the Arabs into the river ot
N^dvidn. This latter again is a mythical personage with a very curious story
of his own, but I cannot go into it here.

More fortunate than his namesake of the north, Baal has here preserved
his Memnonium, and even his cult, in the shape of the wely of Neby Rubin
and the great annual feast that takes place there.

And now we have to consider why local tradition selected Reuben from
among so many popular Biblical characters as a fit inheritor of the old Baal of
Phoenicia, when his connection with this part of the country is nil. There
was Abraham equally available as in the case of the river Adonis, or No'man,
as in the case of the river Belus. Why did the choice fall rather on Reuben ?
It may be — I make the suggestion with all due reserve — it may be that it
resulted from the alliterative likeness to the name oi Jabneel, which became in
Arabic Yebnd (, Ju^O, and in early times Uhnd (, ^\)- The Nahr Rubin is,
hydrographically speaking, the "river of Yebna." The usual practice among
the Arabs of Palestine is to give to rivers the name of the chief town situated
near their mouths.

Accordingly either they or the previous inhabitants must have said, at
one time or another, Nahr Ubnd, "the river of Ubna," and N'ahr Ubnd in
popular pronunciation would naturally give; rise to the form Nahr Rnbnd,
where the final r of the word nahr looked as if it belonged also to the
beginning of the name Ubnd. This corrupt form Rnbnd, I take it, gave rise
to the Reuben and Ritbin of native tradition. In this connection I may
remind the reader that Stephen of Byzantium speaks of a certain mythical
Jamnos as having given his name to Janinia, the ancient Jabneel. In reality
the reverse was probably the case ; the name of the town was the parent
stock that produced the name of the eponymous hero whose cult lies concealed
beneath the devotion of the Mussulmans to Rubin, the inheritor of that Baal
in whom the river was personified.

From Neby Rubin we went down again to Yebna, where we were to
pass the night.

Tell es Snlldn. — As we followed the southern bank of the river, we passed
a bridge called Jisr Rubin, near which I noticed a tell of regular shape, called
Tell es Sultdn, which seems at one time to have been the site of a fortified
camp.

Neby Kandeh. — On the other bank, towards the south-east, we perceived
the well-known village of el K'beibeh, but were not able to visit it. It

Tour from Jcrnsalsiii to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 167

contains a sanctuary dedicated to a certain Ncby Kandeh (Kitndch), who is
accounted a son of Jacob and brotlier of Rubin. My guide, however, assured
me that this neby was not a man but a female sheilch, called Sheikha Gandeh.
I have my doubts as to his accuracy about the sex of the person in question,
who is commonly supposed to have been a man. Can there be, by chance, a
female personage associated with the male, as is often the case in the tradition
of the fellahin ? This would have to be investigated on the spot ; but a point
worth preserving is the pronunciation Gandeh, which I particularly noted in
my note-book. It implies an original form i'jJJ, Kandeh, with the emphatic
kdf, and not i'jJi or \\.^* with the soft kdf. If the form Kandeh, with the
kdf corresponding to the Hebrew koph, were definitely established, one
would be tempted to find in this name a reminiscence of the undiscoverable
town of Makkedah, which must have been hereabouts. Kandeh may easily,
considering the common phonetics of fellah speech, be an inversion for
K'akdeh, and A^akdeh (i'jujO might be connected with Makkedah (jry^d), either
directly, by change of ni to n (though this mostly takes place at the end and
not at the beginning of words, f or what is perhaps better, indirectly, the Hebrew
Makkedah being for Mankedah ixry^ir^), and a derivative from the root nakad.

Yeena.

At Yebna we pitched our tent near the wely of Abu Horeira. Inside
this we noticed numerous fragments of marble, several stones with the

media;val tool-marking, and two marble columns surmounted by their capitals.
The outside of the building is rather a picturesque sight, with its leivdn of
three arches, its cupolas and its courtyard planted with fine trees.

* This is the spelling of the Name Lists, where the word is transHterated Kunda.

t On this hypothesis we should have to admit that the change from the Hebrew m to the
Arabic n took place while the name was actually undergoing the process of transformation,
K<und(Ii : it is the contact with the dental d that would turn the m into an //,

1 68

Archceological Researches, in Palestine.

The consecration of the Sanctuary to the famous Abu Horeira, "the
father of the Httle she cat," the companion of Mohammed, though it can be and
has been disputed, and is certainly spurious,'" must date very far back.
Several old Arab writers mention it. At all events the inhabitants are very
proud of it, and it would be most unwise to discuss its authenticity with them.

Mediccval ChureJi. — Beyond the wely, which I shall shortly have occasion
to speak of again at greater length, there is in the village itself a mosque
{Jdvie'), which is part of an old Crusaders' church, and is very interesting. I
had made a hurried sketch and plan of it already in iS/O.t but this tinie we
made a detailed and leisurely survey. There is really nothing left of it now
but the north-west corner, which the Arabs have arranged as a mosque, at the
expense of some disfigurement. The rest of the original nave has utterly
disappeared, razed to its foundations. These foundations might perhaps be
discovered in the adjoining houses. This demolition had an extremely
practical end in view, and I shall presently show why and when it was effected.

But first of all, here is a plan of the building in its present state, with a

P o

PLAN AND SECTION CF MEDI.SVAL CHURCH AT YEUNA. Scale ^Ju- Bearing 109°,

* Mujir ed Din (Bulak Arabic text, p. 233) says in so many words that it is not he that is
buried at Yebna, but one of his children. Tradition points out the tomb of Abu Horeira at other
spots, for instance near Tiberias {Quarterly Sta/ement, 1887, p. 89).

t Garnet III, pp. 34, 35-

Tour frovi Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Cotmtry of Samson. 169

section from E to F. This section is at right angles to the east and west axis
of the church, and passes through the northern aisle and the nave.

The Arabs, it will be noticed, have built firstly a south wall, blocking up
three bays in the south arcade of the nave, and secondly an eastern wall, at
right angles with the foregoing, blocking up a transversal bay of the nave and
a transversal bay of the north aisle. Three of the four pillars that are built
into these walls can still be traced inside. Two others remain, isolated in the
middle of the present nave, and supporting six groined vaults. Two of the
primitive windows of the church still exist in the original north wall, to the
right and left of the modern door. This latter is pointed, and was probably
built by the Arabs, perhaps rebuilt not from their own
materials.'"

Next follows the inside elevation of one of the
windows, which is splayed. t

It is marked B on the general plan.
The level of the floor inside the mosque is appre-
ciably higher than the primitive level of the church, so
that the bases of the pillars are hid from view.
In the north-west corner a staircase (A), consisting of three flights at
right angles, affords access to a minaret with a large square base, which
projects outwards, and seems to correspond, in its lower part at any rate, to
an old belfry of the church. The steps are formed of fine stones carefully set,
and were probably built by the Crusaders.

Present level of the floor.

The plan next following, taken at the level of the terrace of the mosque.

* Unless they utilized some side door by which the church communicated with a monastery
lying to the north.

t This window wrongly appears in the engraving as having a semicircular top. The
windows are in reality pointed, but the arc is slightly broken.

I/O

Archceolozical Researches in Palestine.

shows the exterior configuration of the staircase and the minaret to which it
leads.

\^£

Scale ji^.

As one loolcs at the mosque on its north face from the outside, it appears
as below.

VIEW OF MEDL-EVAL CHURCH AT YEBNA.

In the above engraving are visible: — the Arab door ; to the right, the
base of the minaret essentially mediaeval in outline, with an ill-built Arab wall
leaning against the right of it.

There has been subsequently built into the north side of the base
of the minaret an Arabic inscription. The rectangular border enclosing it
can be seen in the engraving. A translation of it will be found in the
Memoirs (Vol. II, p. 441). It states that the minaret was erected in the year
738(1337 A.D.).

On penetrating into the courtyards and rooms of the Arab houses
clustering round the mosque, we discovered on the outer west side the
primitive door of the church, which the Arabs have blocked up with rubble.
This is a perfect gem of Gothic architecture. The curve of arch is so slightly
broken that at first glance it looks almost a semicircle.

Ton)' from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Conntry of Samson.

171

rriM

X I// 11, (

•t//// A \Y/ WW ^/( -. 1

_TJ'wfeii'^''iliii!^^^

Elevation.

Plan. Scale

Section.

i7 /„.-.„,„„>//,.

Detailed Section. Scale .t'jj .
Z 2

ly:

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

fe'^3?j«*SgV^>

This door is composed of one archivolt and a series of recessing members.
The details of these will be better understood from the accompanying section
than from a long description.

These arches rest on a simple abacus supported by pillars without
capitals. The bases of the latter are hidden under the soil.

I should like to draw special attention to the idea
of the ornamentation of the large arch. It is grooved
with canaliculi, presenting the appearance of tiny arch-
stones or rather small tablets with their edges only
showing, radiating from the same centres as those of
the arch. This idea seems to have been a favourite
one in the architecture of the Crusaders, and is found,
among other places, in the arches of the doors of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of St.
Anne at Jerusalem,

To complete our study of these details, I give two
sections showing the outline of the string-courses running
inside and outside along the walls at the same elevation
as the abaci.

Our investigations among the Arab houses took us to the outer south
wall of the mosque. This is of Arab construction, and forms a right angle
with the primitive western wall,
which has been destroyed from
a point a few yards from the
axis of the mediaeval door. In
this wall we discovered a large
pointed bay facing south, and
now walled up (at F on the
plan).

This bay, which has been
blocked up afterwards by the
Arabs, I think, consists of an
arch supported by two pillars
with moulded abaci, formed of
a group of engaged pilasters.
We were even able to distin-

Scale 4a-

Elevation on C D, showing the
walled bay. Scale j^.

guish the base of the pillar G, which furnishes an ^^^&§A«ssci?
important feature in the architectural scheme, and determines the original

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 173

level of the church. This bay belongs to the first transversal bay of the
church, and separates the nave from the southern aisle.

It is now easy to form a general idea of the plan of the church, and by
estimating its whole extent to make out what parts have been destroyed. The
axis of the church, which is orientated nearly from east to west, passed through
the middle of the western door (P) ; to the left of this door there stood the
belfry, forming a projection on the north-western corner of the church. The
north wall of the mosque is the northern boundary wall of the church. This
wall was continued towards the east, comprising one or perhaps two transverse
bays, as far as the beginning of the apses, of which there are now no signs
to be seen above the surface of the ground. If we start from the middle of the
door P, which marks the central axis of the church, and draw a line to the
south equal in length to the distance from the middle of the door to the north
wall, it brings us to the dotted line indicating the boundary of the row of
houses abutting on the mosque. The walls of these houses must be built over
the foundations of the south boundary wall of the church, and have had
probably their alignment determined by these foundations. We thus obtain
the total breadth of the building, which must have been about thirteen yards.
The length must have been proportionate. It becomes evident therefore that
the whole of the south aisle has been destroyed, and also the transverse bay,
forming a transept, the whole width of the three aisles, not to mention the apses,
which have totally disappeared.

The bridge. — In the immediate vicinity of Yebna, in the Wad ct Tdhiindt,
"valley of mills," may be seen a bridge with three arches and cut-waters, like
the one at Lydda,* with which it has much in common. At first sight one
would say it was a bridge of Arab construction ; t but on closer inspection I
noticed that the arches were formed of arch-stones with the mediaeval tool-
marking. In this case also the Arabs must have availed themselves of
materials borrowed from some erection of the Crusaders. It would not
surprise me — unluckily I had not the time to settle it — if the building thus laid
under contribution were in this case also the fine church at Yebna. This
would account for the disappearance of a considerable part of its naves ; for
only two triforia (transversal bays) have been preserved, and converted into a
mosque ; the remainder has been probably utilized for building the bridge.

* See supra, p. 1 1 o ff.

t And such is the opinion of the authors of the Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 443, "probably Saracenic
work." Irby and Mangles {Travels, p. 182) thought it to be Roman.

174 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

and also most likely for building or repairing the wely of Abu Horeira. In
particular I suspect that the three handsome ogive arches forming the porch
or lewan of the Wely* were borrowed from the church of the Crusaders.

There is one indication which appears to me to transform these two
conjectures — at any rate the former.f concerning the bridge — almost to
certainties.

The Survey Party;]: noted in the courtyard or area of the wely an Arabic
inscription to the effect that this blessed "cloister" was founded by Sultan
Beibars in 673 (1274 a.d.), under the superintendence of " Khalil ibn Sawir,"
wall (governor) of Ramleh.

This inscription is, as I shall show, much more instructive than it looks.
It will be remembered that the bridge of Lydda was built by order of Beibars
in 671, that is to say two years before the "cloister" of the Sanctuary of Yebna.
Now an Arab chronicle which I have quoted from in this connection informs
us that Beibars, in 672, \i'&.i\ txoo bridges hxxAx. of a strategic nature, "in the
neighbourhood of Ramleh." I have shown that the first of these was that at
Lydda, and it becomes to me extremely probable that the second is the one at
Yebna. The object of Beibars was, as I have explained, to keep open his
communications at all seasons along the high road from Egypt which passed
through Yebna, Ramleh, and Lydda. The bridge of Yebna was intended to
play the same part to the south of Ramleh as that of Lydda to the north. It
was another fruit of the same idea, and, what is most interesting, made with
materials of similar extraction. The same course was pursued at Yebna as at
Lydda, and in each case it was the arches of the two churches of the
Crusaders close at hand that were laid under contribution for the bridge.
The whole proceeding was in pursuance of a system — the construction of the
two bridges was ordered and probably carried out almost at the same time.
The bridge at Lydda was constructed in 671, as the tarikh built into it bears
witness, while the Arab chronicler assigns the date 672 to the construction of the
two bridges. It may be supposed that this slight discrepancy of a year is due
to the fact that the second bridge, the one at Yebna, was built a year after the

* See the picturesque view already given, p. 167.

t For the second, it would have been necessary to examine the arches in question with this
idea in view, to see whether they did not present some detail indicative of the mediaeval origin
that I assign to them. I regret now that I did not do this, and recommend the point to future
explorers to settle. I only made a vague note in my note-book about the existence in the wely
of some stones with the medieval tool-marking.

X Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 442.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 175

one at Lydda, but the chronicler only took into account the date of the one
finished last (672).

A further proof that the bridge of Yebna is really the second bridge built
by Beibars, "in the neighbourhood of Ramleh," lies in the mention on the
inscription of the wely of the governor of Ramle/i, who built the "cloister"
there in 673. Thus at the very time when the two bridges near Ramleh were
in building, which operation would naturally fall to the care of the governor
of that town, we see this governor carrying out some important operations at
Yebna. It seems well nigh certain that the governor killed two birds with
one stone, and that after having taken part of the church at Yebna to make
his bridge, he conceived the idea, which Beibars approved of, and for which
the governor gives him all the credit, of utilizing the rest to adorn the
Mussulman sanctuary with the "cloister," probably the three arcades we see
there to-day. It is very possible that a diligent search may bring to light in
the bridge of Yebna, as in that of Lydda, some tarikh declaring that it was
built in 671, 672 or 673, at the bidding of Sultan Beibars and under the
direction of the governor of Ramleh. It should be noted that the bridge of
Lydda was not constructed under the direction of the governor of Ramleh,
but of another personage, who doubtless was placed under his orders. They
probably shared the work ; and perhaps the construction of the two bridges,
which are some distance apart, was carried on simultaneously.

The inscription in the wely of Abu Horeira happens also, unexpectedly
enough, to be, as I will show, a document of the highest interest for the
history of England ; this governor of Ramleh there called " Khalil ibn Sawir,"
being in fact none other than the Emir of Ramleh, who, three years before,
had attempted to procure the assassination of Echvard Prince Royal of
England, when his forces were threatening Lydda and Ramleh. Feigning a
desire to be converted to Christianity, he had entered on secret negotiation with
him, and had despatched two emissaries, agents of the Old Man of the Mountain,
who wounded the Prince with daggers in five places. This dramatic incident
made an immense sensation at the time in the Christian and Mussulman
worlds. The Eastern and Western chroniclers, who relate it in detail, do not
give the name of this Emir of Ramleh, some even make him Emir of Jaffa.
The only one who gives his name is Ibn Ferat,* and he simply calls him by
his patronymic, Ibn Shdwer, "the son of Shawer," waly of Ramleh. It is

* See the passage in Defremery, Redierclies siir Flnstoire des Isinaclicns. {Journal Asiafigue,
1885 Vol. II, p. 69.)

176 Atrhceological Researches in Palestine.

clear at once that it is our man, " Khalil ibn Sawir, KJialil son of Sdwtr,
governor of Ramleh. There is a slight difference in the spelling of the
patronymic, it being Sdwfr in the translation of the inscription given in the
Memoirs, and Shdwer according to the manuscript of Ibn Ferat. It is
difficult to check the transliteration Sawir, as unfortunately the actual text of
the inscription has not been reproduced in the Memoirs. This transliteration
implies an original form, ,^.L- ; but in an inscription where the diacritical marks
are perhaps rare or even absent altogether, the editor of the Memoirs may
very well have given this reading of the combination of letters which, on the
authority of Ibn Ferat, ought really to be read ,.li, S/idzcer, which form is
moreover well known.

Thus the inscription of Yebna reveals to us authentically and fully the
name of the man who instigated the assassination of Edward Prince Royal of
England.

These pages, devoted to the description of Yebna, were already gone to
press when I had sent me a series of observations of the highest interest,
which serve to remedy the incompleteness of my own, and confirm on
several essential points the archaeological and historical conclusions I had
drawn from them. M. Max van Berchem, whose name I have already
mentioned in speaking of the Lydda bridge, has been so kind as to undertake
to supply the desiderata I had pointed out to him for the description of the
monuments of Yebna. He has studied them on two occasions, in 1893 "^"^^
in T894, the first time with the assistance of his young and courageous wife,
whose untimely loss his friends unite with him in deploring. In the following
lines I give the substance of the precious notes that he has placed at my
disposal, and I am happy to thank him publicly for this graceful act.

The Omrch. — "The outer facing of the walls is much worn away; there are

shafts of columns built in the walls through the whole thickness The window

has a charming profile ; it has a median joint (vertical) and the diagonal stride

(mediaeval toolmarks) on the voussoirs The minaret has a square base, and

the body of it is octagonal, after the style of the Egyptian minarets of the
thirteenth — fifteenth centuries. It appears to be partly constructed of mediteval
materials ; on some of the largest stones traces of diagonal striee are still visible.
On the north front of the minaret, at about 13 feet from the ground, is a limestone
slab about o"" 70 long by o™ -50 high, built into the wall, with an Arabic

Tmir frotn Jerusalem to Jaffa and tlie Country of Samson. i 7 7

inscription in neskhy Mameluke characters, of average size and pleasing style,
but rather indistinct : —

{sic) 'J^ J,.«Jt' ^' ^-'^J' ._«^J1 ii^\

*iJU t_Jw:. -vj'lj. ^.'w*J iju- ^r *_V.' , ^^ J < J

'• The person spoken of is evidently the Emir Saif ed-din Bashtak en Xasiry,
who played a part in politics under Sultan Mohammed En Kasir and built a
mosque at Cairo, which has now disappeared, and a great palace of which some
traces remain, which was terminated this same year, 738 . . . . "

Tlie Wely. — A. " On the door of the enclosure of the wely, east side, is a large
marble slab (i" '05 by o" '/o), with five lines of fine old Mameluke neskhy characters ;
the letters are flat, white on a yellow ground, and have a i&fi diacritical marks.

{sic) ^ llx^ AtiS r^. -J. J ^ iU! J^. iX^'\ i^\ '^\

(sic) ,.L.- ..j^ Jj1=- ^ X*^ (sic) "i^, iJUJ-:. .^^jtiw;.
t ■ '■ , ' >. on y< /'M ■-- 71 M "

"The proper name is as a matter of fact written KJudtl ben Sazvr („L:);i
but as many diacritical marks are wanting, there is no objection to reading Chdwer

(..^)-"§

* That is to say : " In the name of the merciful and piritul God. Ordered the building of
this blessed minaret, bis exalted and lordly Eminence the great Emir Saif (ed-din) Bashtak,
belonging to (Sultan) En-Nasir, at the beginning of the month Rabi' II, in the year seven
hundred and thirty-eight" As will be seen, the tenor of the inscription, as copied by M. van
Berchera, is appreciably different from the one given in the Memoirs, Vol. II, p. 441- The same
remark applies to inscriptions a and b, reproduced further on : c is a new inscription.

t The above transcription of the text is made from the copy and squeeze taken in 1893 by
>L van Berchem. Here is the translation : " In the name of the merciful and pitiful God.
Gave the order to begin building the blessed jwrch (rewai), our master, Sultan El-Malek
edh-Dhaher, pillar of the world and of religion, Aboul Path (the father of conquest) Beibars,
co-sharer with the Emir of the Believers, may God exalt his victories ! The completion of it
took place in the month Rebi' I, in the year six hundred and seventy-three. AVas entrusted with
the building Klialil son of Chawer, Governor of Ramleh, whom may God pardon, him, his father
and mother, and all the Mussulmans."

i Not _• ,'_■ as implied by the transcription Sdu'ir given in the Memoirs.

% Thus there is no longer any doubt remaining as to the restoration of this name, which I
pro|K)sed on the basis of the defective reading given in the Memoirs, nor, consequently, as to the
historical results that spring theiefrom ; our personage really is, as I recognized, the presimied

178 Archtrolo^^ical Researches in Palestine.

11. " In the base of the door\va\', consequent!)- under tlie [jorch that is in front
of this, on the Hntel of the door and on the sides of the bay. Length of front
side 2'" -20, length of the sides, i"''iO. Two lines of fine nesk/iy Mameluke
characters ; letters of medium size, numerous points, few vowels ; the inscription is
whitewashed and very indistinct, though very well preserved: —

, '^ a,.Jl.c ^ \.^\ Jc-^1 ^Jv-J (sic) ^ ^Jl.'A *A:5-J1 .r^=^l\ cd!^ *^.' (Line i)

^Ui\ JS^ ^,;.v!^_. Ia;.jJ\ _\U ^j^\ ^<1J1 j1^\ aJjJI k.y,l ajj^I JjWI ^W\

^-- ,.vlUl .,.L- ,,.^J.^1 L_<1^^ JccJj\ ^,lLUt Ul'^. JJ. .v-^' .dSl Ut (Line 2)
.♦•Jl -• v-\ji c'J ^)1<. jj^^ C-jU:?- cU-O. ,.,\JJi1\ v^'. l:.'^^^.-^- *Uc-J1 c-J*^ >X^^ ^^^

" L^nderneath the lintel, on the right and left sides of the door, are two lines":

Aj' ,Uj: ^Ji aJU^wi ,„\JK^^'.', ,.,A,G^ •X.K^ ,».,,i , -i uJ iUj: ,.,.< i^jiSl ,.,^« ..f-^-:^ (Line i)

* _^^!1 <^.^^.!. aJu.a!. .J c>JJ\ ^ ,J^'-.-l ,L^l.jJ\ ,..A..l (Line 2)

" Sultan Khalil Abu '1-Feda is the conqueror of Acre (690 A.H.). Perhaps
the works mentioned in this inscription were executed in consequence of a severe
earthquake which did great damage all along the coast of Syria {see Quatremere,

Histoire dcs Sultans Manitoiiks, II, A., p. 146)."

author of the attempt on the Lfe of Prince Edward of England. It will be further noticed that
the go-eernor of Ramleh bears exactly the same title {7i'aty) in the inscription and in the passage
from Ebn Ferat that I cjuoted in comparison with it.

* ■' In the name of the merciful and pitiful God. Began to build this blessed sanctuary
{meshhed) of Abu Horeira, may God receive him, companion of the apostle of God, on
whom be prayers and salvation, our Lord and our master the very great, learned, and just
Sultan, resolute champion and guardian (of Islam), victorious, El-Malek el-Achraf, prosperity of
the world and of religion, Suhan of Islam and of the Mussulmans, lord of Kings and Sultans,
Abu '1-Feda Khalil, co-sharer with the Emir of the Believers, may God exalt his victory, son of
our master the Sultan, hero of the holy war, El-Malek ElAIansiir Kelaun es-Salehy, may God
water his reign with the rain of his mercy and his grace and the benefits of his indulgence, may
he make hini to dwell in the gardens of Eternity, may he come to his aid on the day of
resurrection, may he make him a place under a wide shade with abundant water and quantities
of fruit without stiftt, may he grant him the reward and the delights he has deserved, may he raise
his places and degrees into the .... Amen ! The building of it was finished in the months of
the year six hundred and ninety-two, and there was entrusted with its building Aydemir the
dewaddr ("bearer of the inkstand") E/,-Zeiny (? may God pardon him, him and his descendants,
as also all Mussulmans."

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa, and the Country of Samson. 179

C. To the left of the great inscription of Beibars (which is above the door of the
enclosure) there is built into the wall another inscription consisting of three lines
cut on a marble slab, length o™ '46 ; height 0"° "22. Small characters, in cursive
Mameluke neskhy.

lU.

•^■j^.*j ^i_

tSjLiJWa

'— tU^— : (Jj-'

f^^'

11.

Being exposed at each of his visits to the hostiHty of the fellahin, who
were set on him by the sheikh, I\I. l\I. van Berchem was unfortunately unable
to carry out all the archaeological observations in the wely which I had
requested him to make in order to ascertain whether there really were, as I
supposed, materials in the structure borrowed from the old Crusaders' church.
On the first occasion his suspicions were aroused, on the second he managed
to note certain details which seem to me to give support to my conjecture.

Here, firstly, is a small sketch made from his notes in combination with

our own, and giving a plan of the sanctuar}', approximately correct, and
showing the position of the three inscriptions reproduced above (a, b, c).

* This inscription, which was not noticed by the Survey, presents a few doubtful words.
The translation is as follows : — " Renewed this pool, the conduit and the saliia, his Excellency
En-Nasery (= Naser ed-din) Mohammed Anar (?), son of Anar (? ?), and his Excellency El-'Alay
= 'Ala ed-din) Yelbogha, possessors (?) of the township of Yebna, may god in his grace and
mercy grant to both of them Paradise as a reward. Ordered at the date of the month Rebi' I, iu
the year eight hundred and six (1403 .a.d.)." There is an "Ala ed-din Yelbogha el-'Alay who
appears on the brief list given by Mujir ed Din {op. cit., p. 612) of the naibs of Jerusalem, some

2 A 2

I So

Anhceological Researches in Palestine.

K K is ;m enclosure open to the sky. I add to this a partial view of the
edifice made from two small photographs which M. M. van Berchem suc-
ceedeti in taking-, in spite of riotous opposition, which at one time nearly took
a fatal turn.

The re-a'dk mentioned in inscription a is evidently the porch with three
arches d, e, f, and two bays (each about lo feet wide), which stands in front
of the sanctuary proper. The whole is formed of six groined compartments,
and each surmounted by a small cupola. M. M. van Berchem estimates the
width of the fagade at about 32 feet.

Here follow the notes made by M. M. van Berchem : —

" I searched for Crusaders' blocks in the side and rear walls (G, II, l), and I

think I saw some in the front wall H, but I am not certain. Here are some details

concerning the arches, D, E, F, of the portico. The central arch E, which,

"brisce" at the top, is composed of two quite

distinct parts : i. A moulding M, formed of

a fillet and a cavetto ; middle joint at the

top of the arch ; lengthened voussoirs. This

moulding appeared to me Gothic, but I cannot

assert as much, not having been able to

examine it closely. 2. An archivolt N placed

against the intrados of the preceding, with

narrower voussoirs, and a voussoir at the top (key-stone) V. The front of the

voussoirs is ornamented with a zig-zag line cut
in the stone, and following the curve of the
arch . . . The joints of the upper moulding do
not coincide with those of the lower archivolt.
The two side arches, D, F, have the "pudding" orna-
mentation.*

" At the top of the shorter front (about 20 feet above the level of the ground)

runs a cornice, which in its profile recalls the moulding of the central arch."

I consider that these three arches are sufficiently established as being
of mediaeval origin by their shape, the profile of the mouldings, the patterns

of whom were at the same time inspectors of the two Harams, from about the year Soo to 840 or
850 of the Ilegira ; this Yelbogha occupies the fourth place on the list. The names and dates
are sufficiently in accord to tempt us to identify him with the second of our personages ; in this
case, however, one would have e,\pected him to put into the inscription the titles of his high
offices, if he really exercised them. As is shown by the appearance of the names, these two
personages must have been of Turkish origin, at any rate the second of them, for the name of the
first is still very doubtful, and would require to be verified from the original.

* M. M. van Berchem gives this name to the ornamentation, consisting of canalicuti ; see
above the picturesque view of the monunier.t.

Tour fi-oni Jerusalem to Jaffa and t lie Count rv of Samson. i8i

of their ornamentation,* and the placing of arches with vertical joints over
arches with keystones. The two latter characteristics are notably present in
the door of the church at Yebna vdiich I have given above. The arch of
the latter, moreover, shares with the rwo arches d e, of the wely, the
peculiarity of being very slightly broken. I will add further, that the profile
of the cornice that runs along the top of the fagade, simple though it is, is in
no way Arab, and bears a much greater resemblance to a Gothic string-course.

It will be admitted that these facts add considerable weight to the notion
I put forward, that the portico built by order of Beibars was for the greater
part constructed from materials taken from the Crusaders' churcht, which at
the same time, doubtless, was drawn upon for the bridge, situated not far away.
The commemorative inscription was probably built in the first place into
the portico itself, either on the front or under the arcades, and afterwards,
upon occasion of some rebuilding, it was transferred to the place above the
lintel of the door of the outer enclosure, which it occupies to-day. The sanc-
tuary proper, or mcshhed, which was built nineteen years later— in pursuance
perhaps of some original plan left unfinished by Khalil ben Shawer — must
correspond to the part of the structure marked b, g, i, ii, which is surmounted
by the principal cupola.

The Brido-e.—Vi. M. van Berchem was also kind enoucrh to make a

special study of the bridge, which confirms my conjectures as to its origin.

* The canaliciili, as I have already said, are again met with in the arches of numerous
Crusaders' buildings. As for the zig-zag ornament, it would be wrong to reckon this an indication
of Arab work, for although rarer than the ornament just mentioned, it exists in Crusaders'
buildings ; for instance in the archivolt of the church of Jebeil, which belongs to the 12th century.

t It is possible, of course, that certain other architectural materials were borrowed by the
Arab builders from another erection of the Crusaders which lay to hand at Yebna, namely, the
castntm and presidium, flanked with its four towers, which King Fulk had had built at Hibelin,
as Yebna was then called {William of Tyre, X^'', 24).

1 82 Archa-olopical Researches in Palestine.

"i>

He satisfied himself that, as I supposed, " Crusaders' arches undoubtedly form
part of it " (I quote his own words). The analogy with the case of the bridge
at Lydda is a striking one, and it now seems altogether probable that at
Yebna, as well as at Lydda, Beibars, or rather his agents, laid the church
under contribution for the building of the bridofe. I now give a susfofestive
view of this bridge, from an excellent photograph taken by M. M. van Berchem,
from the side of the village, i.e., from the south-west, and some items ex-
tracted from his note-book.

"Bridge with three ' brisecs' arches" (arches with broken curves), "resembling
the bridge at Lydda ; browrj tufous h'mestone. The central arch is wider. The heads
of the arches are of more careful workmanship than the other part of the soffits, and
have diagonal strice tkroitgkoiit ; the vertical joint is at the top . . . The soffits, apart
from the groins, are of porous rubble as at L}-dda. The difference between the two
materials is very noticeable. On the side facing up stream (south) the central arch
has only a few voussoirs with striae at the springing ; the rest is of small porous
rubble ; here the difference strikes the eye at once. However, the vertical joint is
also found on this arch, which is the only one not entirely constructed of material
bearing Crusaders' tool-marks. On the up side are two pointed cutwaters, as at
Lydda. The intrados of the central arch is made of materials carefully dressed as far
up as the springings, where the small rubble begins. There are traces of cement,
especially on the intrados of the eastern arch. Above the central arch, on the
north side, in the crowning of the parapet, is a breach, which might have contained
an inscription. . . . The fleche of the bridge is very conspicuous. Length about
48 m., breadth 1 1'" -50 ; width of the central arch 6"' 'So ; width of the side arches,
about 5 m. The height varies, the base of the bridge being buried in mud. I
found masons' marks on several voussoirs, and Madame van Berchem made
squeezes of them for you. Some of these marks are doubtful."*

Miscellaneous Notes.

Here are a few notes that I took of conversations with the fellahin of
Yebna :

Hibelin. — The town used also to be called 'Ebellin. ,.,Aj-.^ or ,.„vLio:-+
The tradition of the fellahin is curious, when compared with the well-known
passage in William of Tyre, from which it appears that in the time of the
Crusades, Yebna, then supposed to correspond to Gath, was called Hibelin.
The presence of the 'ain in the Arabic name tends to show that this must be a
genuine case of native name, and not, as might have been supposed, of a name
manufactured or mutilated after the Crusaders. The H in Hibelin similarly

* There are six of these. See the Special Table of Vol. I. I shall direct attention to one
of them, a splendid A, quite Golhic.

I I noted this name before when I visited Yebna in 1S70. (Garnet III, p. 34.)

Tonr from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 183

seems to prove that there was a guttural at the beginning of the name that
the Crusaders heard. That they found the name already attached to the
locality William of Tyre expressly testifies. However, Benjamin of Tudela
and the Jewish authors write p'^n^S or pT2^^, but they perhaps do but give a
direct reproduction of a western pronunciation of the word. It is difficult to
explain the origin of this mysterious name ; but it may be useful to compare
with the passage from William of Tyre one from Foulques of Chartres, which
assigns to this same town the name of Ibeniim, and identifies it not with Gath,
as does William of Tyre, but with Ashdod. These Biblical identifications
are equally arbitrary and of no value ; what we should seize upon is the
form Ibenum (if the reading of the MS. be certain), corresponding to the
Hihclin of William of Tyre.* In any case there is no doubt as to the
relation between Ibenum and Hibelin, for the chroniclers of the Crusades
mention the two names in connection with the same episode in the war.
The form Ibenum might easily be reduced to the Arabic form Yebnd. We
ought also, however, it seems to me, to take account of the singular fact that
the Jews of the Middle Ages — as their itineraries expressly state — placed the
Yabneh of the Bible in Galilee, at a village called then as now 'Abellin
^jdxi (quite near Shefa'amr to the north-east). Can the name of 'Abellin
have been transported by a reverse operation to the real Yabneh, Yebna, of
Judeea, and have been treasured up by the local tradition of the place ? In
this case we should ascribe the origin of this name Hebclin, 'Ebellin, applied
to the Yebna of to-day, to Jewish intervention. It was a confusion of the
same kind that caused the Jews of the Middle Ages to identify for instance
Ekron with Acre, whereas it certainly is at 'Aker quite near Yebna.

The identification I have just made removes at all events any lingering
doubt that there might be as to the identity of the Hibelin of William of
Tyre with Yebna, since by the current convention of the time, 'Ebellin was
reckoned to be Jabneh.

Topography. — Various localities mentioned to me by the fellahin of
Yebna :

Khni-bet el Fat una, to the north of Beshshit ;

Khiirbet edh-DIi hcisheh, near K'beibeh ;

Dh'hur el Ghozldn, "the crests of the Gazelles," between Yebna and 'Aker;

Hcbreh, towards Moghar ;

And the Aliilin of Albert of Aix

184 Archcvological Researches in Palestine.

Stikreir, between Esdud and Yebna ; between Bechchit and Yasiir,
according to others ;

Be'elia, to the north, in the mountains, four hours' journey ;

At Beshshit there is a Ahby Sliit ,•

'Oy/iii Gdra, a pronunciation of the name 'Oyiui A'ara, proving tliat
Kara really begins with the emphatic Kdf, and should be written \ .L- ;

Khiii'bet Sitkriyeh, two and a half hours to the south of Yebna.

The ethnic name of the inhabitants of EchiV (c^O is, in the singular,
YesJmdny, and in the plural Sheicd'''neh. The discrepancy between the
singular form ^llc^i^^ and the plural form Z>^^J:^ is very interesting.
Yehsitdny is an archaic form, and credits the locality with an ancient name
c^A-s which onomastically, if not topographically^'' is identical with tha Jeskiia
(i^Tll") of Nehemiah (xi, 26).

From Yebna to Ascalon.

Our examination of the church at Yebna having taken us no inconsider-
able time, we were rather late in starting for Esdud, which was to be our
resting-place for the night.

Sukreir. — About midway on our journey we inspected the ruins of
Sitkreir, which was a little to the west of our road. Here there are visible
the remains of a sort of Khan, with a deep cistern and a small birkeh ; an
aqueduct led the water from it to a fountain right on the edge of the road ;
opposite this, on the other side of the road, in a field, is a piece of a column,
belonging perhaps to a milestone, and some fragments of marble. This must
have been the site of some ancient inanzel or posting-house, on the Arab route
from Egypt to Syria.

I have come across this place Sukreir in an important episode of the
history of the Mameluke Sultans. Makrizi narrates that in the month Mohar-
ram, in the year 696 (October, 1296), at the camp on the 'Auja (to the north of
Jaffa), the Emir Lajin, having conspired with some other Emirs, attacked his
master, Sultan Ketbogha. The latter managed to elude his attack, and fled
towards Damascus, over the bridge of the 'Auja. The Egyptian army then
left the 'Auja to return to Egypt. On their, arrival at Yazur, in front of Jaffa,

* From the contexl at any rate it looks as if the town in Nehemiah must have been much
more to the south.

Tour fro)u Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 185

the Emirs proclaimed their colleague Lajin as Sultan, under the name of
El-Malek el Mansur. From Yazur the new Sultan moved to Gaza, passing
by Sekrir. It appears to me certain that the name y,.J~^^ which is thus read
by Ouatremere, ought to be vocalized Sukreir, and that this locality corres-
ponds to our Kliurbet Sukreir. This historical testimony is doubly valuable,
as it guarantees at the same time the comparative antiquity and the exact
spelling of the name Sukreir.

The ruin, when all is said and done, is insignificant, but the name
attached to it is extremely interesting. It has been variously transliterated,
and in most arbitrary ways, e.g., Suk-rheir, Suk-kheir, Sugheir, Tokrair, etc.
(Rey, Guerin, Tobler, Richardson, etc.). The true form in reality is Sukreir,
.j^. As early as 1861, Knobel* proposed to identify it with Shikronah or
Shikron, a landmark on the northern boundary of the territory of Judah,
towards its western extremity. I was still very uncertain on this question,
and rather inclined at the time, relying on faulty transliterations, to Shikronah
with Zernilka, near Yebna and to the north-east of it. Three months later,
on revisiting these parts, I gave up the latter conjecture and went back to
Knobel's, in consequence of two new observations that I made there. The
name Zernuka is written with the emphatic kdf, ^^jj't and consequently can
have nothino: to do with Shikronah n21"l3'C On the other hand I have
actually heard on the lips of the fellahin of Berka the variant Sukrein. for
Sukreir, which is a complete justification of the hypothesis that this name
may represent Shikron.

My only doubt is whether there ever was a town — an ancient one, I
mean — on the site of Sukreir or Sukrein. But then I am equally doubtful
whether the place-name Shikron is applied, in the passage of Joshua, to a
town. The name Sukrein — we are sufficiently authorised to give the prefer-
ence to this form, now that I have shown that it really exists — the name
Sukrein, I say, is properly the name of the small river, the Nahr Sjikrein,
which flows by Esdud and falls into the Mediterranean about opposite
Sukrein. It is, I think, as a river that Shikron figures in the delimitation
of Judah, and not as a town. This problematical town is mentioned nowhere

* Exeget. Handbuclt, xxx, p. 419.

f Zernu/;d signifies properly "an a])paratus for raising water;" Mokaddesy says that it is a
dolab, "machine for irrigating." It is the Aramaic word ZarntVia i^p"l^"lT, which has the same
meaning, and is itself probably nothing else but the Greek ai'iH~i^, genitive avpr/r/o^, "pipe,"
whence on the other hand is derived our word " syringe." There actually is in the village of
Zernuka a water-wheel which raises water for irrigation purposes from a deep well.

2 H

86 Arc/i(solop;ical Researches in Pa/csfiiw.

"■i>

else, which is very odd, for if it really existed it must have belonged to the
territory of either Judah or Dan, the towns in which are mentioned in detail.
In support of this theory I will adduce two facts; (i) the etymology of the
name Shikron, which evidently comes from the root shakar, 13tr, s/ns/ikir,
"vycyn, "to water;" (2) the fact that there is in Spain a river of the same
name called by the ancients Sucro (by Ptolemy, 'S.ovKpcju ;* now the Jucar or
Xtccar). This name is of Phoenician origin, just like that of another river in
Spain, the BiXuv, which is the same as the Bclus, " the river of Baal," in
Phoenicia, and the Nahar Baal in Palestine, represented by the Nahr Riibin
mentioned a tihort time previously.

And now, if we identify Shikron with the Nahr Sukreir, and the
" mount," z.t'., the "river," Baal with the Nahr Rubin, how are we to follow
out on the spot the marking of the boundary of Judah as described by Joshua?
This presents serious difficulties, I admit ; but these difficulties are equally to
be found in all the other theories hitherto propounded which involve the
existence of a toivn Shikron and a iiiount Baal. I cannot enter here upon a
discussion, which would require a thorough working out ; I will content
myself with remarking that we have to take into consideration a possible
change in the course of these two small rivers, on account of their having to
make a way through sand-dunes in order to get to the sea.

Esdud. — Before reaching Esdud, you cross the Sukreir by a bridge with
three arches, which seems to be of Arab construction. I omitted to see if by
chance it contained any mediaeval materials, like the bridges at Lydda and
Yebna. If so they could not have come from Esdiid, for the Crusaders, so far
as we know, had no important post in this neighbourhood.

In the immediate neighbourhood of the village of Esdud, and to the west,
is a high hill, covered with gardens enclosed within hedges of cactus, which
makes it difficult to get about. I noticed here a considerable quantity of
potsherds, some fragments of marble, some wells, and so on, indicating the
existence of a town, which must have been the Ashdod proper of the Bible.
This commanding height is called er-Ras, "the head," and also Jd/ud cr Rds,
"Goliath of the head." According to the fellahin, Jalud was a Sultan of the
Kuffars ; his daughter was Hilane (Helen), and his town was built on the hill
er Ras ; a subterraneous passage placed the town in communication with the
Minat Esdfid, "the harbour of Esdud," which is on the sea-coast to the west
of the village, and is also called cl Miiia for short. I was told that a carved

* \\'ith a town of the same name situated on its banks and called after the river.

Tour fi-om Jaiisalcii; (o Jafja and lite Coitn/ry of Samson. 187

block of marble had been found at el Mina, and I made up my mind to go
and see it next day.

The ancient name of Esdud, according to the fellahin, was Sidd cr Rum,
"the barrier of the Rumis." This latter legend contains a curious play on the
ancient name of As/idod, and has reference to the root shadad, s/iadd, with
which it is connected.* It confirms me in the notion I have formerly
expressed, that the name of Ashdod stands probably in the same etymological
relation to that of the god Shaddai and Shed as the name of the town of
Arsiif does to that of the god Reseph.

From Esdud to Ascalon. — Next day, Wednesday, at a quarter past six,
we were in the saddle, as we had a long day before us. My idea was, in fact,
to go down as far as Ascalon, then to come back along the coast as far as the
port of Esdud, and from there to make straight for el Moghar, where I had
sent on the tent.

Tell el Kurziim. — We cast a glance in passing at the great ruined Arab
Khan near Esdud, but did not spend any time over it. To the south there is
a tell called Tell cl Kurziim.

Folklore. — We left on our right, some distance from the road, the
wely o{ Abu Jahan. A litde while afterwards we met a worthy fellahah from
one of the neighbouring villages, mounted on a small donkey. She was going
like ourselves to Mejdel, to sell vegetables and fruit. She was a very good
sort of woman, quite chatty, and received our advances in a friendly spirit
that strongly contrasted with the distrust and ill-will we had nearly always
experienced at the hands of the fellahin of the south. She had the gay
good humour, the honest prepossessing face, and even the manners of a good
substantial farmer's wife such as we see at home in Europe. She insisted on
our tasting her fruit, and gave me as we went along some interesting information
into the bargain. She could not be prevailed upon to accept the smallest
bakhsheesh, and when I pressed her, she told me that we should see one another
again at Mejdel, and that then I might if I liked buy some apricots of her.

There is, she said, at Hamameh a sanctuary of Seiydna ("Our Lord")
Abu 'Arkub, who came flying through the air from afar, and lighted there.
None knew of his presence there, which was only revealed at his death. He
was buried where he lay, and the place is every year the object of a great

* It must not be lost siL'ht of that the Arabic name is in reahty j,_v_-, S'Jt'ui, and that the
initial f//J/"that is heard in the native pronunciation is in fact prosthetic, Es'di/il. In the ancient
Arabic form Azdiid, the jt has been changed into s, from immediate contact with the d.

2 V. 2

i88

Ai'Lhcrohoical Rcscarclics in Palestine.

pilgrimage from the country round about. I'he real name of Abu 'Arkub was
Sheikh Ibrahim, and he was the son of 'Aiy ibcn A'/cim (the much venerated
neby of Arsuf, who entered into the inheritance, mythologically speaking, of
the old Phoenician Reseph). This series of names and surnames therefore
gives a regular genealogy of this branch of fabulous nebys : A'leun, father of
'Aly, father of Ibrahim, father of 'Arkub. The sanctuary of the founder of
this little mythological dynasty is venerated at the present day at Dura, in the
direction of Hebron. I have collected various legends about these flying
nebys at other places in Palestine, especially at Nablus.* Here the
characteristic feature of the tradition seems to have reference to the name
of Hamdmch, which means "pigeon" or "dove," and has been suspected, not
I think unreasonably, to contain a reminiscence of the divinity worshipped
under the form of of a dovet at Ascalon near Hamameh.

Tell el Fardny. — A little before you reach Hamameh you see on the
left of the road Tell cl Fardny (or Fardiich), having on it ruins containing
hidden treasure, so our travelling companion assured us.

Havidnich. — We stopped a few minutes at Hamameh with an old native

SCULPTURED HEAD

IX WHITE MARBLE.

One third the

original size.

goldsmith that she told us of, one Yusef Abu 'Isa. He had a few rather

* See i/ifia, ch. VI.

t This bird figures on the coins of Ascalon. Compare what Philo, quoted by Eusebius, says
of the worship of the dove-cote at Ascalon, and the legend, localized at Ascalon, of Semiramis,
daughter of Derceto, who was fed by doves. Derketo was changed into a fish, and Semiramis
into a dove. Ibrahim became the fish Sultan Ihrahhn mentioned already, and the sanctuary of
A'leim at Dura is by the side of that of Noah.

Totcr fi'OJi! Jei'itsaian to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. i8y

interesting antiques in his possession, and let me have them for fifteen francs

or so. Among them, a pretty head of Athene, with helmet,

in white marble, half life size (see p. 188) ; and a piece of

carved ivory o" •14 high, representing a woman inapeplum,

elegantly draped and holding a crown in her left hand.

Unfortunately the face is mutilated. At the back the ivory

is traversed lengthwise by a hollow groove. These two

objects, and most of the other antiquities, were got, it

seems, from the ruins of Khalasa, the ancient Elusa, to

the south of Gaza.

I also saw in his possession a fragment of white veined
marble, very finely carved, but unfortunately mutilated,
having in one of its sides a representation of two fantastic
creatures of the bird-kind, with crests of five feathers, and
bodies in the shape of a fish or snake. To judge from its
general shape, of which some idea may be got from this j^.,-,^^, ,,„.yKE.

side view, this fragment appears to have formed part of ^'■''"^ "^'^ ongmai size.
an architectural scheme, and may have been perhaps a corbel. I cannot
decide whether the style of it is Byzantine or Romanic. In any case the tool
marks on the blocks are not mediaeval.

SCUI.PfURED MARBI.K

KRAGMENT

FROM IIaMAMEH.

. 0"'- It

Here is another fragment, similarly of white marble, with a yellow
tinge and blue streaks, which was offered me at Jerusalem as coming from
Ascalon, and bought by me. It is a slab o'" '025 thick, a trapezoid in shape.
On it are carved in low relief two doves back to back, with their heads
turned to look at one another, and holding in their beaks a fillet or garland
from which a small disc depends. In the disc, which forms a central part and
probably leading idea of the whole, there is inscribed a sort of rosette, of

190 ArcJupoIogical Researches in Palestine

ill-defined shape, perhaps a star or a cruciform emblem.

Above are

". 15

two small plain discs, below, a lotus-flower.

The question presents itself whether we should recognize here the

eucharistic doves and bread, or
merely a subject of a purely orna-
mental character. At all events
the 23resence of the doves is note-
worthy, considering that the monu-
ment, as it is said, comes from
Ascalon.

Mejdel. — We stopped for lunch
at Mejdel, where we found our
worthy peasant- woman. Her apri-
cots formed the staple of our
dessert, and very good they were.

We started immediately after
for (J aura) Jiirah, without having
time to visit Mejdel. Here follow a
: ' few notes that I made there during

: a previous journey, m 1070:*

I noticed in the houses at Mejdel a sort of receptacle for corn, made of
clay, and called kJidbieh {h^\~^). The fcllahin call them saum'a (cilr^^.-^,
sauiiia'a). These are filled with grain through a wide opening in the top,
and when grain is wanted, it is let out by a sort of bung-hole, like wine out
of a cask.

They told me at Mejdel that there were several places of the name :
Mejdel 'Askahxn\ (where I was), Mejde/ VaM, Mejdel Bdna.\

Furthermore several localities were indicated to me in the west of Mejdel,
the names of which I took down : Khitrhct Ganids (^Ui) and KJmrbet Fithi
{^jlj.i), Bazzeh, Bashsha.\

* Caniet III, p. 34, et seq.

t Mujir ed Din (p. 484 of the Arabic text of Bulak) calls it Kariat Mejdel Hamiviuh.
Mejdel, "the fortress," probably belongs to the TrXifaiov uxvpwfunn of Ascalon (I Mace, XII, 33).

X Mejdel Ba'na is evidently the locality that appears on the Map (III Nf) under the name
o( Mejd el Kenhn,]\ii\. hy el Ba nek znd to the south-west of it. According to my information,
this transliteration is wrong ; it ought to be Mejdel Kerihn, as the author of the Niune Lists
(ch. 52) rightly supposes, or perhaps better Medjdel el Kerum.

§ These localities have been since noticed by the Survey, with the exception of Fi/ihi, which
I have not been able to find on the Map. F'ltun cannot be far from Khurbet Gamas {Kemas

Tour from JcnisalcDi to Jaffa, and the Country of Samson. 191

Jaura. — At J aura we had a lively altercation — a regular barrfif — which
threatened to have a serious ending, with some ill-conditioned fellahin,
about an absolutely trivial matter. I record the incident, as it was very rare
for me in my many wanderings in Palestine to meet with open hostility. The
ethnic name of the inhabitants of Jaura is Janrdny in the singular, y^wa/w^/i
in the plural.

From Ascalon to Khulda.

Time pressed, and we would not stop to explore the ruins of Ascalon.
I felt some interest as I again beheld the high walls overhanging the sea, at
the foot of which I and my horse were nearly drowned in the winter of 1870.
We traversed the gardens, planted on the actual site of the old town, so as to
get a general idea of it, without being able to enter into details.

At 3 o'clock we left the beach of Ascalon and turned northwards, following
the coast line as far as the harbour of Esdud. I give a summary account of
the points observed during this hurried journey.

At 3 past 3, a low mound covered with potsherds and ancient dc'bris, with
some walls. No name ascertained.

At 3.35, some walls of small stones : two large columns.

At 3.57, a small ruin of no importance, perhaps Arab ; some tells covered
with potsherds.

At 4.30 we arrive at last at the Minat Esdtcd, where there are ruins
comparatively important, great quantities of potsherds, a rectangular fort built
of small stones, which must have been a marine defence. Quite near, on the
west, is a group of small mounds with numerous architectural fragments of
marble, pointing to the existence of an important building, and quantities of
mosaic cubes. This part ought to be explored. Having no guide, we were
quite unable to find the sculptured block which the fellahin of Esdud had
particularly told us of

I should have liked to push to the north as far as the Sanctuary of Neby
Yunes, which is at the mouth of the Nahr Sukreir, and is perhaps connected

of the Map), to judge from the .ippearance of the names on my list, where they are united by
and. I propose to identify F'ltun with F/ietom, a mediaeval casal near Ascalon given to the
Hospital by Jean d'Ybelin in 1256, and not found by Rey and Rohricht. Plietora must be a
copyist's error, or perhaps a wrong reading on the part of the editor Paoli, for Plieton. This
must not be identified — the resemblance of the two names being the merest chance — with the
Fatliura, 'I'ltOov/xi, of the Onoinasticon. The latter is a village close to Eleutheropolis, on the
road leading from that town to Gaza, and is perhaps identical with Tor Fiiriit and V..\\\\xhz\. Furut,
four miles west from Beit Jibrin, suijposing a displacement of the r, which is of frequent
occurrence in the pronunciation ol the fellahin.

192 ArcJucoIogical Researches in Palestine.

with the river by the same mythological bonds as unite the sanctuary of
Neby Rubin with the Nahr Rubin. However, we had to give up the
idea, for the sun was already very low in the sky, and we had still a good
distance to cover before reaching Moghar, where our camp awaited us.
It was even a longer distance than we thought, for, deceived by Van de
Velde's map, the only one we then had at our command, we steered, or better,
we believed we steered, for Berka, to the east, and became involved in an
interminable tract of moving sand-dunes, where it was impossible to get on
in places. Our horses, slipping over these mounds of sand as they gave way
beneath their feet, sometimes sank in up to their chests, and we had to alight
and extricate them. The poor creatures were worn out with fatigue and
thirst, and their riders were almost in as sorry case. We had nothing all
round us but an horizon of high dunes, which we had to climb and descend
one after another, without a landmark in sight to steer by. The fact was that
we had deviated a little to the north, and taken a diagonal course through
this sandy belt, which was wide enough in any case, instead of cutting straight
through it. At last after this toilsome journey, more like sailing through
sand than a ride, we got to the end of the dunes and reached the river
Sukreir, where both beast and men assuaged their thirst with delight.

It was pitch dark. We directed our course towards Berka (Burkah), the
lights of which were now visible, but only stopped there a moment to ask our
way, and then went on towards Beshshit. At Berka, the name of which is
pronounced Bergd, I made a flying note of the name of an anonymous neby,
Neby Berg or Neby Bereg, son of Jacob as usual, of course. We reached
Beshchit with some trouble, for we went rather out of our way in the darkness,
and here I persuaded a fellah to guide us to Moghar. It was after midnight
when we got back to our tent. Here everything was ready for our reception,
and we enjoyed a well-merited rest.

Moghar (El Mtighar). — Our tent was pitched about twenty minutes to the
south of the village, near a well with sdkia, the pivot of which rested on an
ancient white marble capital. The very spot is cdWcd. Khiirbet Hibreh. The
bekd, ■' country, town," of Moghar, so the fellahin told me, was formerly some
twenty minutes to the north, at Khiirbet Suninieil ; it was called Snimneil el
Moghar. Five minutes north of the village is an ancient quarry. The
village is called Moghar* because all the houses are built on ntghair,
"caves." The wely of Moghar is called Abu Lavmn and Abit Tdka. He

* Evidently the Moghar mentioned by Yakiit as a village in Palestine.

Totir from Jcnisalcni to Jaffa and the Country of Samson.

19:

is called Abu Taka, " father of the window," because, finding himself mahslmr
(thrust) in a cave, he got out of it by a miracle, God having made an opening
[tdka) through which he flew. This is the legend of the flying neby over again.

I was told of several inscribed stones, among others of a column to the
left of the road to 'Aker. This may be a milestone. A fellah also brought
me a fragment of a Greek inscription on a small slab of white marble. As he
wanted a good deal for it, I contented myself with taking a squeeze of the
text.*

It is difficult to get anything certain from this mutilated text, the ends of
five lines being all that is left. Perhaps the first two should be read :

fCXMHNOC
EOYK^

.OYNHTHC

K^ , jJ.'qvo'i

" the year 620 (?) the

20th of the month of Hyperberetseos."

The third line contained perhaps at the beginning the year of the
indiction, followed by a verb avrj{?)e, or a name in the nominative ending in
avr]o<;{?), and the fourth the final syllable of a patronymic in the genitive
terminating in Svov {?). In the fifth, XovvrjTrjs may perhaps be the remnant of
l^Aa-KojXowqTrj';, for 'AtrKaXwi'tTr/?, "the Ascalonite." These however are mere
queries. The date should perhaps be reckoned according to the era of
Ascalon, which I shall refer to later on a propos of the inscriptions of Gaza.
The 20th of Hyperbereteos of the year 620 (there may have been in the lost
portion of the inscription a letter expressing additional units) in the Ascalon
era would correspond to November i6th, 515 of the Christian era, which
date is pretty well in accord with the shape of the characters.

Summeil el Mughdr. — Next day we went to see the ruins of Khiirbet
Salltcjeh, about an hour to the south of el Mughar. They seemed to me to be
considerable importance. t From here \ we proceeded to Summeil el Mughar,

* The inscription afterwards came into the hands of M. PhiUbert the younger of Jaffa ; I
found it at his house in 1881, acquired it, and took it to the Louvre.

t There is an entry in my note-book about this, but it is illegible.

X Between Mughar and Katra is a small tell, indicated on the Map without a name. It
appears from a note of mine, which I cannot discover the origin of, but which certainly belongs
to this journey, that this tell is called Tell el Fultis,

2 C

194 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.

a namesake of another Summeil to the south, called for distinction-sake
Suymneil el Khalil, "the Summeil of Hebron," or " of Abraham."* This
name occurs at several spots in Judea. Thus there is yet another Summeil to
the north of Jaffa and not far from it.

Summeil el Mughar is on a small low hill, with no ruins to be seen ; here
and there are scattered stones. At the foot of the hill, to the east, towards
the road to 'Aker which skirts the chain of hills, is a beiyara well. Some way
off we perceived, though we were unable to visit them, the yawning apertures
of some caverns.

'Aker. — At 'Aker the fellahin told me that the village was also called
'Akriin by the Franks, which unfortunately shows that the peasants are already
beginning to be informed by thoughtless travellers as to the ancient identity
of their villages. This is a symptom of a malady that will cause trouble
hereafter, for the end of it will be that this pure spring of real indigenous
tradition, which has hitherto been drawn upon with confidence, will be
contaminated. The village has its eponymous Saint, Neby Aker, whose
name is by some pronounced 'Akel, " the wise." 'Aker was anciently a large
deled extending over the whole dhahra (the brow of the hill). To the
.... t of the village, about five minutes away, there have been found in a
field a number of tombs built of stone, and covered in each case with one or
two large slabs with " writing on them ;" they contained bottles of terra
cotta, and sahdtit (coins). This field is worked by one 'Aly Abu Mouafy.
There must have been a burying-ground here, one that would be very
interesting to excavate, and might perhaps tell us something about Ekron, at
any rate during some period of its existence.

* This Summeil is too far from Hebron for tlie origin of its surname to be ascribed to its
proximity to that town. I suppose that some part of the territory of Summeil was assigned as
ivakcf io the sanctuary of Hebron. In fact, as Robinson (German edition, HI, 628, 736, 746)
had already noticed, SummcU el Khalil is none other than the Casile of St. Samuel, which the
western pilgrims in the fifteenth century came across on the road from Dhikrin to Gaza ; they
fancied they detected in Summeil the name of Samuel. They expressly state, moreover, that
this village paid a yearly contribution of 2,000 ducats to the support of the " Hospital of St.
Abraham," otherwise called Hebron. This institution was probably the Bimarestan el Mansur
founded in 680 by Sultan El Mansur Kelaun, as we are informed by Mujir ed Din {pp. cit.,
p. 426) ; or we may perhaps take it to be the famous semdt, or Holy Meal of Abraham, which was
given away daily at a! fixed hour, without distinction of religion, to all strangers who happened to
be at Hebron. Among the very numerous villages standing to Hebron in the relation of tvakef,
there are several that we know, for instance Kariet Zakariya and Deir Astid, in the territory of
Nablous, mentioned by Mujir ed Din.

t The indication of the direction has been omitted in my note-book.

Tour from Jerusalem io Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 195

AmsdUra.- — To the east of Mansura and north of Khulda is a ruin
called AinsdUra (=:Musabara ?).

The ancient name of Ramleh, according to the fellahin of 'Aker, v^-d^sFrantis;
others S2iy Falasttn, z.nd Faldsthi el Kubra (the Great).* Can this queer name
Frantis be a corruption of the well-known name Falastin (which comes directly
from the Greek naXaicrrtVij) ? Falastiiiz=Farastiii=^Farantis^=Frautis.

Am Kelkha. — At el Mansura the inhabitants told us that the ancient
balad ^3s at the ruins of Am Kelkha [AF kelkha?), a quarter of an hour to the
south, on the further side of Wddy 'A in el Mansura.

K'zdzeh. — To the south of Am Kelkha is K zdzeh, at about an hour's
distance.

The site of K'zazeh sorely tempts one to identify it with an ancient
locality. The name at first blush looks like a purely Arabic one, meaning
"glass." We know however from the case of Tibneh 2.nd. others, that one
has to be careful about these seemingly Arabic place-names, which often
contain old Hebrew names brought into Arabic forms by folk-etymology. I
wonder whether, by virtue of this principle, we ought to recognise in K'zdzeh
the name of the town Makaz, mentioned along with a group of Danite towns
in the jurisdiction of Ben-Dekar, one of the twelve m'cedbim, or governors, of
Solomon (i Kings, iv, 9).

j;U and ypQ (from the root ^P) contain the same radical elements,
granting the generally admitted equivalence of the Y and the ; .

El 6';;^'^a«w«'.— Half-an-hour west of K'zazeh there is a ruined town
called Khiirbet el Uniganna' { = el Mukannct). The town was anciently
surrounded by seven towers, and was the residence of a king of the name of

Melek el Mtignd. The name of this fabulous king, -Jjul^ , is evidently

derived from the same root as the name of the town, tJJUll ; the difference
between the two verbal forms is to be noted. El MugncC, otherwise called
el Muknd , signifies in Arabic not merely " he who has his head veiled," as it
is translated in the Name Lists, but also " he who wears a helmet." This
recalls a detail in the description of Goliath and his helmet of brass in the
Bible. Native legend therefore would tend to localise Gath in the environs of
el Um'ganna'. The problem of Gath is so hopeless, and so many difterent
solutions have been suggested, that this one of the fellahin is really as good as

* As will be seen further on (ch. VI), the name Falastin t/ie Great is, on the other hand,
attributed to Sebaste by the inhabitants of that town.

2 C 2

196 A?r/!(ro/ooica/ Researches in Pales fine.

most, and might, if need were, be supported by topographical and historical
arofuments.* At all events Uni'o-anna' cannot for a moment be taken for
the Mechamim or Machamivi (eight miles from Eleutheropolis, on the way to
Jerusalem), t which St. Jerome has in view when he speaks of Bethmaacha ;
neither distance nor direction would suit. Still less is it the Mec/tona/i of the
Bible, which is written with letters radically different (n^STJJ).

Khuldd. — From Mansurah (Mansura) we proceeded to Khulda
(Khuldeh). Here we found an inhabitant of Ramleh, a good-natured, chatty
fellow, by name As'ad Efendy Abu J a' far, who had come to settle some
business connected with loans to the fellahin. The following are notes of my
talks wath him : —

Kal'at ed Dabbeh,\ the port of Yebna, was called Rnbil like the wely and
the river ;

* As an opportunity is now offered, I will draw attention to a more important point, which
may perhaps rank as a factor in the problem of Gath, at any rate from the onomastic standpoint.
In the marginal annotations to the Merafid, Yakiit mentions a karich in the Gaza country, which
he calls _/i/t7«, observing that this name is the dual o[ Jit ( = "the Uvo Jifs"). This locality
appears to me to be identical with the one which Khalil edh Dhahery, in his Description of the
Empire of the Mamelukes, places between Gaza and Beit Deras. The name is barely legible in
the MS. at the Bibliotheque Nationale (...jJu^;^); it hasbeen incorrectly read Habnin by Quatrembre
and Jcnin by M. Ravaisse, but it is evidently \\\z Jitc'in ( .^Lv.^) of Yakut. It is also the Jatin
( . jjj^ — to be vocal izedya/w;) spoken of by Makrizy as being on the road from Gaza to Ramleh.
{History of the Mameluke Sultans, I, 239.) This namey?/«« ox Jatein, "the two Gtt's" or "the
two Gat's," recalls in striking fashion, it must be admitted, the name of the celebrated Philistine
town. I have long searched in vain for it on the Map, and am at length convinced that it is
represented by Ejjeh, quite close to Barbara. The real name of this locality, written i,:>-\ in the
Name Lists, is really, as appears from Robinson's lists, liLxsJl el Jieh, and the regular dual form of
this must have been formerly used to denote a pair of places, the second being perhaps that now
called Ba7-bara. It is perhaps the d'Wi/ reOBcifi spoken of by the Onomasticon (s.v. rc00d) in
reference to Gath. It is a rather curious coincidence that there exists a place of the same name
El Jieh (or El Jiyeli) between Saida and Beyrout, which is also called Khan Neby Ydnes. Now
Jonas, whose name has a connection with the place in legend, was born at Gath Hefer in Zebulon,
so that the two Hebrew homonyms had two Arabic homonyms corresponding to them. I will add
the final remark that the modern Arabic form el Jieh, for the village near Barbara, is vouched for
by a mediEeval charter of 11 26 (Delaville le RouLx, Cartulaire des Hospitallers, I, No. 74), which,
as I think, actually alludes to our village in these terms : "casale nomine Algie ... in territorio
Abscalonis {sic)."

t Meshanum,- the form adopted by the generality of topographers after Reland, is a bad
reading, invalidated by the MSS. St. Jerome means, when he quotes this name Machamlm, the
Beth Maacah of 2 Sam. xx, 14, 15; moreover, with him it is a mere identification of names,
valueless from the topographical point of view.
+ See supra, p. 163.

Tour frojii Jerusalem to Jaffa and tJie Country of Samson. 197

Benjamin has a makam near Deir Turit, in the plain ;

Stiltdn edii Dhdiier (Beibars) conquered the King of Jaffa, Yafil. There
was at Lydda at the same time a king called ICfir el Lnddy, at Ramleh a
king called Filastin, brother of Constantine ; he it was that built Ramleh.

El Fenish was king at el 'Arish. Ibrahim el Haurany, vizir of el IMelek
edh Dhaher, fought him and pursued him as far as Jaffa, where he took
refuge. Ibrahim el Haurany entered the city secretly. He was recognised
by a tavern-keeper, who said to him, "Thou art a Mussulman. What dost
thou here ?" " I am come," Ibrahim replied to him, "to cut off the heads of
the three kings." The tavern-keeper told him to wait till the morrow, hid
him at his house, and gave him food. Then he pointed out to him a way by
which to penetrate to the citadel. Ibrahim made his way in, and cut off the
head of King Yafll, but el Fenish and the other king managed to get away.
The proclamation of edh Dhaher, victor of Jaffa, is still extant, written on a
large marble slab, in the Jame' el Abiadh, and a detailed account of these
events is given in the book entitled FutiVidf edh Dhaher, " the victories of
edh Dhaher."

This narration is the oddest medley of history and legend — I give it for
what it is worth. Here and there in it I seem to catch an echo of the old
Pharaonic story : " How Tutii took the town of Joppa."

The fellahin of Khulda, who were there in company with As'ad Efendy,
gave me the following information : —

At Dei'r er Ruhbdn, half-an-hour east of Musa Tali'a, there is an ancient
inscription ; at Sejed (to the south of Khulda) is another; north-west of Deir
er Ruhban is Deir Zdker ;

Between Beit Far and Beit Susin is the sanctuary of Sheikh N'dhefr ;

Near 'Ain Shemes there is a large threshing-floor called el Aleish,
together with the well of Bir eth Themed ;

The ethnic name of the inhabitants of Beit A'tab is "Atdby in the
singular, and 'AtdUneh in the plural ; that of the inhabitants of Deir Eban is
Deir Ebdny in the singular, DeidrbeJi in the plural

Samson's Country.

From Khulda we proceeded to 'Artuf, where we were to stay the night.
Following the road which runs along the high ground, parallel with the Wad
es Serar, we reached 'Ain Tarif, to west of Rafat and quite near it. A little

1 98 ArcJicrological Researches in Palestine.

further on, in the Wady Rafat, I noticed a well, with a vaulting and a defaced
base of a column, called Bir el KebcC.

Surik and Sorek. — Only a few minutes north from here there is a ruin of
no great importance in itself, but extremely interesting, as will be seen, on
account of its name, which greatly struck me. The fellahin of Rafat told me
that it was called Khiirbet Siirik. What I had done was nothing more or less
than to discover the CapJiar Sorech of the Ononiasticon, looked for in vain
down to our day, and at the same moment to get proof that at the beginning
of the fourth century the Wad es Serar was supposed to be identical with the
valley of Sorek where Delilah dwelt. I have already briefly mentioned this
discovery at the time of making it.*

The various questions raised by it are of some consequence, and will
repay a moment's attention.

Eusebius says, s.v. tctiprjx, "a torrent (valley) whence came Samson's
Delilah ; there is a village on the borders (opiots) of Eleutheropolis called
Bap7))(^ (sic) near Saar, where Samson came from."

This passage has evidently been tampered with by copyists. We
certainly ought, as has been proposed by Vallarsius, relying on the version of
St. Jerome, to correct optot? into ySopetois (northern); Bap7]x ^^^'^ Kacjiapacopi^X'
and also tadp to Sapaa St. Jerome does in fact amend the passage, and

makes it precise, as follows : " there may be still seen at the

present day, to the north of Eleutheropolis, a village named Capharsorech,
near the town of Saraa, where Samson came from."

There can be no doubt as to the identity of the village spoken of by St.
Jerome with our Silrik, which is situated less than two miles from Sara, the
ancient Zorah, the home of Samson. The name and the position are in
absolute accord, the more so as we are sure, from another passage,t that the
Onomasticon located the Zorah of the Bible, as modern commentators do, at
the present village of Sar'a.

Elsewhere, under the word Swp'/y/c,]: the Onomasticon says : " in the
territory of Dan, where Samson was, near Esthaol." The Danite towns

* In a letter to the Committee, dated 25th June, 1874. Extracts from this were pubhshed
in the Statement of the same year.

t Onomasticon^ s.v. Xaped (sic), Saara : "On the borders of Eleutheropohs, on the north,
as you go to Nicopohs " ("Amwas), "«/ about the tenth mile." The distance is rather too short, but
the regulating expressions (is aisro and quasi, sufficiently show that it is only meant to be
approximate. See my remarks in a note further on, concerning Esthaol.

I Note the spelling, a k this time, instead of an x ; St. Jerome keeps to his Sorech.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and tlie Country of Samson. 1 99

Eshtaol and Zorah, according to the indications given in the Bible, must have
been tolerably close together ; so there is nothing surprising in the fact that
the Onomasticon at one time places Sorech near Saraa, at another near
Eshtaol. Moreover, in another passage the Onomasticon ascribes to Esthaol
a position and a distance which again brings us to the environs of Sar'a : " at
the tenth mile from Eleutheropolis, to the north, as you go to Nicopolis."*

The Wad es Serar, which passes by the foot of Surik, undoubtedly the
Caphar Sorech of St. Jerome, may perfectly well at some period have given it
or have borrowed from it its name, as is constantly the case with valleys, and
may have been called in the fourth century the valley of Sorech, and later on
the valley of Surik.

Is it then to be supposed that this valley of Surik, or Sorech, is really the
ancient valley of Soi'ek of the Bible ? That is quite another question.

The purely topographical view presents no difficulty, as this identification
brings us right into the middle of the zone of operations of the Danite hero.

From the onomastic point of view, there are certain doubts which I cannot
pass by unexamined. The Biblical name is written with the koph, plti^. How
did they write this Semitic name Caphar Sorech which St. Jerome preserved,
and how ought the Arab name Sririk, which I have noted, to be written ? In

* This time the distance is expressed without any approximatory qualification, there is no
o)? fiTTo or quasi, the calculation is rigid. Taking it literally, one arrives at the conclusion that the
Esthaol of the Onomasticon was at Beit el Jemal, where likewise a legend of the fellahin, which I
shall treat of later, would place the Eshtaol of the Bible. This of course is not to say that the
data of the Onomasticon and local tradition are to be taken for gospel. Enough for us to bear
this in mind, that Sar'a and Beit el Jemal, being separated by the Wad es Serar, and this valley
being in the eyes of the Onomasticon the Biblical Valley of Sorek, it would say with equal justness
that Sorek was near Saraa or near Esthaol.

In support of the identification of Beit el Jemal and the Esthaol of the Onomasticon, I will
quote another passage of the same work which is quite conclusive {s.i'. 'hiiic~i<!,/arin!ut/i), "Jarimuth"
(the Onomasticon means the Jarmuth of Joshua x, 3), "about four miles from Eleutheropolis, in
ttie neiglibourtiood of tht village of Esthaol." Jarimuth, or Jarmuth, is certainly Khurbet Yarmuk;
the distance mentioned by the Onomasticon is incorrect, but the position is beyond doubt ; more-
over, the Onomasticon corrects itself about the distance under the word 'Upfiov^, Jermus, saying
iha.t Jermiicha ('Upfioxd'i) is the place situated at the tenth mile from Eleutheropolis on the road
to Jerusalem. Now Beit el Jemal, as a matter of fact, is just about an English mile from
Khurbet el Yarmuk.

Under the word 'AcOaX, Asthaol, the Onomasticon suggests another, totally different, and
evidently erroneous, identification with a village called 'AaOw, Astho, between Azotus and Ascalon.
It is superfluous to remark that this village, whatever it may be, can have nothing in common
with Eshtaol of the Bible.

oo Archaoloncal Researches in Palestine.

"t>

the transliteration of Eusebius, \^oP\p-qx, and in that of St. Jerome, Caphar
Sorech, the presence of the x ^^'^ '^^e ch would rather seem, to judge from the
practice of these two authors, to imply the existence of a kaph rather than a
koph in the name which they noted and compared with the Hebrew name ;
and in fact we have seen that when they do quote the real Biblical name they
usually write it tojpiJK and not 'Zcjpyjx- It is therefore a fair objection that the
name of the place noted in the Ononiasticon was "J~lir and not pTlI*. If so,
this would be a case of one of those arbitrary identifications which the authors
of the Ononiasticon, anticipating the hardihood of certain modern com-
mentators, sometimes did not scruple to make ; consequently, though we
might have found the valley of Sorech of the Ononiasticon — which would be
interesting enough — we should not any the more for that have found the
valley of Sorek of the Bible, which would be much more so.

The knot could be cut if we knew the exact form of the Arab name
Siirik; but unluckily the same doubt confronts us on this very point. Is it
J,.,,.? or ^^,,^^?

I was not able to clear up the matter on the spot, and I recommend the
filling up of this lacuna to future explorers. Everyone knows how difficult it
often is when dealing with the fellahin dialect to distinguish between an
emphatic kdf and a natural kdf, since in some parts they pronounce the first
in the same way as the second ; on the other hand, it must be said, they
frequently pronounce the second like c/i, though not invariably. All I can
say is that I have heard and noted Surik and ne\-er Snrich, so the chances
are in favour of the emphatic kdph, and, consequently, of the real onomastic
identity between the Arab Surik and the Sorech of St. Jerome, on the one
hand, and the Sorek of the Bible on the other : pTll^ = , ^' ,.-:

The Survey Party, which noted the name some time after I had pointed
out its importance, writes it cJo ,»-: • But this transliteration in the Name
Lists is open to the same doubts as I have already enumerated, and these
doubts seem to me to be substantiated bv the followino- observation, which I
think the more necessary to be made, as it \\\\\ lead me directly — putting
aside all questions of phonetics — to certain topographical and historical
indications which are not without importance in the solution of the geographical
problem.

At some distance from Khiirbet Surik there is a village that seems to me
homonymous with the place we are dealing with. These cases of homonymy
are frequent in Palestine, as everyone knows. This village is Beit Surik, in
the direction of Kulonieh, to the north. Now the name of this village, well-

Tour from Jcnisalcin to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 201

known as it is, is involved in precisely similar difficulties of orthography. In
Robinson's lists it is written cJ-j^,^- ; in a MS. official list which has been in
my possession for the last twenty years, and was issued by the office of the
Serai at Jerusalem, it is written, on the contrary, j:.; ,^._: ; the Name Lists oive
the two spellings. It is clear that only one of these radically different forms can
be right. But which is it ? This brings us back to the very same question
that confronted us in treating of our Khiirbct Sjirik.

This onomastic identification of Kh. Surik and Beit Surik leads us to
another of a different kind, one that tends to prove that at one time the Wad
es Serar may have borne the name of the Valley of Siirik, which is a strono-
argument in favour of its identity with the Valley of Sorek of the Book of
Judges. The village of Beit Surik lies just at the entrance of a short but
deep valley which, joining the Wady Beit Hanina (a little above Kulonieh),
helps to form the Wad es Serar. This branch may perfectly well have been
regarded as the real head of the valley which further on assumes the name of
Wad es Serar ; and I am not e\'en convinced that this view is not hydro-
graphically admissible.*

In this case a most natural explanation would be that Kh. .Surik and
Beit Surik have taken the same name, since, in spite of the distance they are
apart, they are intimately connected by the same valley, and have each of
them borrowed its name in the same way. It w^ould follow that this valley
from its head to Kh. Surik at least, and possibly beyond, was at one time
called the Valley of Surik.

It must be admitted that, if this view be taken, the probability of the
geographical identity of the Wad es Serar and the Biblical Valley of Sorek,
and also consequently of the onomastic identity of Siirik with the Sorech of
the Onomasticon and the Hebrew Sorek, is sensibly enhanced.

Lastly, then, is another consideration which strikes me as calculated to
turn the scale in favour of this view. It is a matter of common knowledge

that, in Hebrew, the word sorek (p~l11^) signifies a vine of a superior quality,
characterised by the particular colour of the grapes it bears. The word is
rendered in the old Arabic versions of the Bible by J-^-j and <_^:,^5 which is
identiciil with one of the forms of the name of the two modern localities
already treated of. The valley of Sorek must have been so called from being

* In spite of the course laid down on the Map, and the considerations of W. Trelawney
Saunders, it may be said that the Wad es Serar begins at Beit Surik and receives the Wady Beit
Hanina as an affluent.

2 D

202 Archceolozical Researches in Palestine.

"i>

planted with numerous vineyards, which were its characteristic feature.*
Now, it is very impressive to notice, that, in the environs of this very Kh.
Surik, one finds at every step magnificent wine presses cut out in the rock,+
the most remarkable perhaps in all Palestine, and bearing witness that vine-
growing was practised to a high degree on the slopes of the Wad es Serar
at an early period.

I-^or all these reasons, and for others, too, that I could not give here
without increasing this volume beyond measure, I incline more and more to
the belief that the Kh. Surik, discovered by me, and identical with the Caphar
Sorech of the Ononiasticon, has really preserved for us the name of the valley
of Sorek, and that this valley is none other than the Wad es Serar which
runs below Surik.

Rdjdt. — At Rafat we came upon a commemorati\'e tuneral ceremony,
an extremely curious one, accompanied by songs and dances. Some peasants
from Beit A'tab, ensconsed beneath a great ersh of leaves supported by a
stone pillar, gave us a most hearty welcome. In addition to the name Surik,
which has just dragged me into this long but necessary digression, I got some
more items of information from them :

At Rdfdt there is a Sheikh Rdfdty ; at Si^ir'ah (Sara) there is the Sheikh
Sdniet (ci-^tU or ktU) ; at Eshua' (Eshu') is Neby ShiTa ;\

About a quarter of an hour west of Deir Aban is the place called Tantilra,
beside which is the well Bir ez Znrra ; eighteen men once were massacred
there.

Sara. — The sun was about to set as we reached Sar'a, behind a hill
shaped like a promontory. I noticed on it numerous rock-hewn vaults.
From the sanctuary of Sheikh Samet, which rises to the south of the village,
we had a glorious view over 'Ain Shemes, Deir Aban, 'Arti^if, and so forth,
and over the Wad es Serar, which here extends to an imposing breadth.
On the further side of the valley, to the east, we descried by the last beams of

* Samson, accompanied by his fatlier and mother, goes down to the vines of Timnah
(Judges xiv, s)=Tibneh, a little lower down, in the Wad es Serar.

t Several examples will be found reproduced with great fidelity by M. Schick in the
Zeitschrijt des deutschen Palaestina-Vereitis, X, p. 131, d seqq., 1887. Compare those that we
noted in the direction of Beit Nettif, which are engraved later on in the book.

J Or Ne/>y Ishi'i'a {EshiYa) ; it is well-nigh impossible to make out from the pronunciation
of the fellahin whether the name begins with an / or not, as this letter, if it exist.s, is merged
into the final _)• o^. nehy.

Tonr from Jcnisakni to Jaffa and the Coiintty of Samson. 203

the setting sun, numerous mouths of tombs hewn in the side of the hill. A
quarter of an hour later we had reached our camp at 'Artuf

'Artilf. — 'Artuf has every appearance of being an ancient place. Its
name, however, recalls no memories of the Bible, and is moreover difficult to
explain in Arabic, whether we write it ^y^j^^ with Robinson, or i_?y.^, with
the N'ame Lists. In the latter case one might sueeest (_i. ,1^, "stout " "strono- "
turned into 1— jy^- by a metathesis similar t(j that which has transformed
Latrfin into Rathhi in the dialect of the fellahin. If, on the contrary, the
name is written with an emphatic t, we may, perhaps, regard the r as an
epenthetic letter (equivalent to reduplication by daguesh ; cf. in Aramaic
h^-\V for ^tay) ; in which case 'Artilf would be instead of 'Attiif ; Atnf
means "curved," Attlf, "a harpoon." However, none of these various
conjectures lead us to any etymology that clears up the ancient toponymy.
1 thought at one time that 'Artuf might possibly represent, topographically
at any rate, even if not onomastically, the town of Tappiiah, niDH. which is
mentioned along with Zorah in this same group of the Shephelah. It must
be allowed that the name would have changed remarkably on the way. Still,
it is to be noted that in the ancient Syriac version it has already begun to
undergo a marked change, Pathuh ; on the other hand, the Ii, especially when
final, easily becomes 'ain in Arabic ; witness the name of the neiehbourino-
town of Zanoah rn:t- now Zanfia. We should have then the following
process, every step of which would have its phonetic justification : Tappuah —
Patlmh = PattiT = Att?1f= Artnf* It is a rather curious coincidence that
Robinson was once led to identify an homonymous Tappuah [Bn TappuaJi)
in the neighbourhood of Sichem, with a place called Atif the name of which
seems to be related to 'Artuf Nevertheless, the question seems to me far
from settled, and I shall return to it anon when dealing with En Gannim, with
which the Tappuah of Judah seems to be closely connected.

Places around. — Next day, before starting on our way to Jerusalem, I
devoted part of the morning to examining certain spots near 'Artuf that
especially interested me. I should have greatly liked to explore thoroughly
this most curious region, forming as it does the heart of the primitive territory
of the tribe of Dan, and the scene of the traditional history of Samson. But
for this purpose we shf)uld have had to stay there a day at the least, and I was

* As for the change from / natural to / emphatic (if there really be one in the name) this
would be explained by the influence of the guttural 'ain at the beginning of the word. This
latter phenomenon is frequent in Arabic.

r> 2

204 Archffological Researches in Palestine.

oblisfed to return to Terusalem on urtrent business. I resolved to confine our
explorations on this occasion to 'Ain Shemes and Deir Aban, promising
myself to complete them later on by a special excursion, which, unluckily, I
was prevented by circumstances from carrying out.

Before leaving 'Artiif, I had a small conference on archreology and
topography with the village fellahin, in the course of which I gleaned various
scraps of information ; I will lay them before the reader just as I received
them. We had before our eyes, as we talked, the panorama of the places to
which the information related ; this served as a text, so to speak, to these
artless but interesting commentaries, which checked, completed, and sometimes
even contradicted one another, according to the turns of the conversation or
the personal character of the speakers. The eye beheld at one glance from
the heights of 'Artuf : Eslma, 'As/in, Sara, 'Ain S hemes, Deir Aban, etc.
Here is a small view taken from 'Artiif looking towards Sara, which is
separated from it by the JVady Rlutlak.

VIEW FROM 'aRiCf LOOKING TOWARDS SUR'aH (SAr'a).

I now let my fellahin speak for themselves:

The locality situated not far to the west of 'Ain Shemes, and which figures
on the map of Van de Velde — the only one I then had at my command —
under the name of 'Ain Jtneh, "the spring of Jineh," is really called
Uvini Jina, and there is no spring there. This piece of information
was opposed to a conjecture that I had formed for some time past, relying on
the erroneous transcription of Van de Velde, which consisted in identifying
this spot with the town of En Gannini. However, as I shall presently
mention, the notion is still tenable. At Umm Jina there is the sanctuary of
Afeb^' rieidar {j-^!^ is one of the names of the Hon in Arabic).

Tour from Jerusalem io Jaffa and /lie Country of Samson. 20 ^^

— At 'Ain Shemes there is the sanctuary of Abu Meisar, brother to Sheikh
es Sdmet, whose sanctuary is at Sar'a, opposite 'Ain Shemes. Abu Metzar is
a nickname, meaning- " the father of the woollen mantle or head-dress." One
Christian feast day Abu Meizar penetrated into the church, disguised as a
monk. He seized hold of the central column sustaining the building, crying:
Ya Ktidret Allah, "O power of God," and overthrew the church, which fell
in ruins and crushed the congregation. He had said to the Mussulmans,
" You will find me lying on my back, on the door post {^adliideh) ; bury me
near it, on the western side."

— The saint of Sar'a, Sheikh Samet, brother of Abu Meizar, was fiorhtino-

o o

against the infidels {Kuffd7'). He had been asked where he was to be buried.
"At the place," he replied, "where my rr/^vs (javelin) shall stick into the
ground." He was at 'Ain Shemes at the time. He hurled his reki'z, which
planted itself in the soil to the south of Sar'a, where his makam stands to
this day.

— At 'Eselin is the sanctuary of Sheikh Gherib. The fellahin, those at least
with whom I talked, knew of no legend relating to it.

— At Deir el Hawa, to the east of Deir Aban, there is a sanctuary of
Sheikh Selnidn el Fdr-sy.

— Between Umm Jina and Tibneh is a bir (well or cistern) called Bir el
Lewmn, but no spring; above, to the east, is a ruin of the same name. In
old times a certain personage desiring to withdraw his daughter from the
attentions of her lover, built for her a stronghold (kaser) right over the well.
I was not able to get a complete account of this long and involved legend.
The girl's name was Jam la, the lover's Jeinil. Jemil is buried at Rafat, to
the west of Sar'a.

— Between'Ain Shemes and Deir Aban lies a ruined place called '^///«('Alin).

— Between Sar'a and Rafat is Deir et Tdhuneh, where one may see enormous
stones, columns, and a door, still in position, said to be the church door.

— Between Deir Aban and 'Ain Shemes, at the foot of the hill, is a sort of
rocky pier hump, a wa'r, called Tantiira. A very long time ago the soldiers
of the "government" cut off there the heads of forty-five fellahin; "eighteen
pairs of brothers were massacred on these rocks." From thence forward it
passed into a by-word, dabhat et Tantura, "a Tantura slaughter," being used
to express a great massacre.

— East of Tantura, between 'Artuf and Deir Aban, is a ruined spot called
Kh. JenncCir. A musket shot to the east of Jena'ir is Kh. IJardzch.
Not far to the east of this, between Deir el Hawa and Harazeh, is Kh. JMcrj

2o6 Arche?o!ogical Researches in Palestine.

'Elltn, "the ruin of the meadow of 'Ellin;" to the north of this last named
ruin is Kh. Rabf.

— Beit A'tab, to the east of Deir Aban, belonged of old to the Fenish.
There is still to be seen, to the north of Beit Jibrin, at jVrdk el Finsh
( = Fenish), an immense cave with an inscription carved over the doorway
saying : " We have filled it with black zchib ditrtinily, do you fill it merely with
chopped straw [iiben), and grain." It is a sort of challenge; zebib is dry
grapes ; as for dnriini/y, I take it to be an adjective composed of the word
duriim and the Turkish termination l)\ and signifying a particular sort of
grape, I cannot tell which.*

Wad es Sera?'. — After this long conversation, we took leave of our 'Artuf
villagers, and directed by one of them, whom we had chosen as guide, we
descended into the Wad es Serar, on our way to 'Ain Shemes. Several minor
valleys join the main one at this point ; it is quite wide, and affords a level
surface adapted for corn-growing. The harvest had been already gathered in
when we passed, but the long stubble was left standing. The whole
answers to the description in i Samuel vi, 13 ; this valley bottom is the e7)tek
where the people of Beth Shemesh were getting in the harvest when they
saw the cart bearing the Ark arriving. Somewhere hereabouts must have
been the field of Joshua the Beth-Shemite, whose name has perhaps been
handed down in that of the place and neby called E slut a. Numerous
hypotheses have been put forward as to the origin of this latter, but this, the
simplest and perhaps the most probable, has not been thought of

Boundary. — Our guide pointed out to me in the distance the boundary
of the territory of 'Ain Shemes, which descends from south to north, passing
by a landmark situated to the east of 'Ain Shemes on the side of the hill,
towards the outskirts of a small grove of olives.

Thus 'Ain Shemes has a regular boundary, a hadd, exactly as Beth-
Shemesh, which it represents, had its gebn/, its " boundary ;"t up to this
gebe/ the lords of the Philistines walked behind the Ark, when they brought
it from Ekron. I could not get anyone to show me which way the kadd
went that bounded the territory of 'Ain Shemes on the west. It would be

* For a moment I thought I could recognise in durum the name of the district of Darom, to
which Eleutheropohs belonged. But in this case one would have rather expected to find a long
form, such as durum, durum. Besides, the name Darom has been modified by the Arabs in
quite a different way, viz., Danhi.

t I Samuel, vi, ir.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jetffa and ike Country of Samson. 207

interesting to verify this on tlie spot, since it is on tliis western side that
we must look for the boundary at which the Phihstines, who came from the
west, stopped their progress. It should be noticed, moreover, that the held
of Joshua the Beth-Shemite, which I shall have occasion to speak of again
shortly, was situated further to the east, since the Bible narrative (v. 13)
says that the cart bearing the Ark still continued to proceed after the
Philistines had stopped at the frontier.

Rnjilm. — In the midst of the valley formed by the confluence of the
Wad es Serar and the Wady Mutlak, between Sar'a, 'Artuf, 'Ain Shemes,
and Deir Aban, I observed a low flat mound, covered with small stones,
called Khiirbet er Rnjnm, and also Rjiim 'Artuf, "the heap of stones of
'Artuf." I thought to myself how well adapted the spot was for the scene
of the holocaust offered by the Beth-Shemites to celebrate the return of the
Ark. Kh. er Rjum, our guide told me, was formerly "a Kal'a (fortress)
like a church."

En Gannim.— \\\ speaking to me oi Kh. Kkeishihn, he told me that it used
to be the bekd " couniry. or town " of a King called Sultan el Jdnn. This
name, Jdnn '^>r^ i^ ^i rather curious one. At first sight it appears to be
merely the Arabic word signifying " demon, genie," but I should not be
surprised if in reality it was a modification of the name of the ancient town
of En Gannim Qi^a jijr. "the spring of the gardens," w'hich I have already
mentioned in speaking of Umm Jina, near Kheishum. What made me
hesitate to identify Umm Jina with En Gannim was, as I have said, my
noticing that the word 'ain, "spring," formed no part of the modern name,
and, more serious still, that there was not even a spring at Umm Jina.
However, this last objection which I raised to myself loses much of its
potency from the following fact : at 'Ain Shemes, well-established as the
counterpart of the Beth-Shemesh of the Bible, there is no spring either, any
more than at Umm Jina, despite the word 'ain, "spring," which enters into
the composition of the modern name. It is, however, probable that there
must have been at one time a spring at 'Ain Shemes to justify this significant
appellation. The spring must have disappeared, no rare occurrence in Judaea
or elsewhere. The case of Umm Jina may have been similar. I revert, then,
to my original idea, confirmed as it is by the mention of this Sultan el Jdnn
localised at Keishum. I am inclined to believe that the town of En Gannim,
mentioned in Joshua as being in the district now under consideration, was
situated on that remarkable ridge on the north of which Umm Jina was
built, and to the south of which Kheishum stretches, "the countrv of the

2o8 Archccolopical Researches in Palestine.

King of el Jann ;" Jina and Jdnn, I think, preserved the name Gannini
(plural of Can") in two slightly different forms depending one on the other.
The memory of the "gardens" that gave the place its Hebrew name has also
perhaps been preserved in a material way in the names of Bir el Leiniiin,
Khurbet Bir el Letniun, which presuppose the existence of groves of citron-
trees.

In the passage of Joshua (xv, 34) in which En Gannim appears, there is
an anomaly calculated to arouse our attention. It is well known that there is
a fundamental principle in this long list of the towns belonging to the various
tribes of Israel ; the towns are grouped by threes in the verses, the few
exceptions to this general rule having in every case their raison d'etre.

Now in V. 34 the rule of three is broken, at least if the received
translations be admitted, and we have four towns instead of three : Zanoah
En Gannini, Tappuah, and Enani. A close inspection of the Hebrew text will
reveal the fact that, owing to the peculiar employment of the conjunction and,
the verse really contains only three towns, not four : And Zanoah, and En
Gannini Tappiiah, and Enani. The absence of any conjunction between
En Gannin and Tappuah would seem to show that the two places are really
one, and that, consequently, if En Gannin is at Umm Jina, it is at the latter
place also that Tappuah should be located. This conclusion would at the
same time remove all possibility of placing Tappuah at 'Artuf.*

The Ononiasticon places En Gannim near Bethel, which is a violation of
all probability ; we should probably correct Bethel to Bethsames.

Various Notes. — As we climbed the slopes of the hill of 'Ain Shemes, our
guide continued to gossip in instructive fashion :

— Between Deir Aban and Tantura, he told me, there is a well (or cistern)
called Bir ez Zurra [Zera^) (already mentioned).

— Between 'Ain Shemes and Deir Aban, to the north of 'Ellin ('Alin), is a
ruin called Kh. Uinni ed Dahab, "the mother of gold."

— Close by 'Ellin ('Alin) is a sanctuary of the saint of the same name,
Sheikh Ellin. This is a h)pcethral niakdni, without masonry.

The ancient nameof Deir Aban wasZt'/Vf/yJ/irY, "the increaseof the money."t

* And .ilso the hypothesis that has been proposed, of identifying the Feta/i Enaim of the
story of Tamar (Gen. xxxviii, 14) with a combination of Tappuah (by metathesis) and the Enam
of the verse of Joshua.

t Notice here again this expletive quahfication el inal, which the fellahin appear to have a
strong liking for, and which they add to many ancient place-names. To the examples above
quoted (p. 100) there should also be added one which occurs to me, namely Si'ir Bdlier, called
bv the fellahin Sur cl )ual

Tour from Jeritsaleiii to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 209

— At EshiV is the makam of Neby AiisJid (j.-i^l), who fought against the
Kufifar or pagans. He came from Beit Nebala.* Pursued by a numerous
band of enemies, he escaped from his native land and took refuge at EshiV.
" Here shall I die!" said he. He sat down, threw his ihimm (cloak) over his
shoulder, and died. He used to slay the enemy with a " wooden sabre " {seif
khashab).^ The sabre is still at Eshu'.

"^Ain Shcmes. — On reaching the top of the hill, we inspected the ruins
of 'A in Shemes,:j: which stretch over a considerable space, comprising numbers
of hewn stones and courses still in sitn. The hill extends from west to east
between the Wad es Serar and the Wady 'Ellin ('Alin). The western
part of the ancient town occupies an eminence covered with ruins which goes
by the name of Rmeileh. This quarter lies just west of the wely, a small
insignificant structure called after the famous Abu Meizar ; I noticed there,
however, a rude capital with double Doric \olute, having a cross within a
circle between the two volutes.

Here I came across a new version of the legend of Abu Meizar, who
was also called, so my guide and other fellahin who were present declared,
Abtil Azcm and Shemshtim cl Jebbdr^ " Samson the hero." There was
once at R'meileh, which is the ancient name of 'Ain Shemes, a church of the
infidels. Abu Meizar said to the inhabitants of Sar'a (SGr'ah), his native
place: "What will you give me, if I kill the Christians and destroy their
church ?" "We will give you a quarter of the country," they answered him.
Then Abu Meizar entered into the church, where he found the Christians
assembled for prayer, and pulled it down on top of them and him, by giving a
mighty kick at the column, crying " Ya Rabb f" "O Lord!" He had said
previously to his compatriots at Sar'a, " Search in R'meileh, you will find me
lying on my back and the Christians on their bellies." The present makam

* Beit Nebala takes us to quite anotiier region, to the north of Lydda and Modin. Perhaps
there was some mistalce on my part or that of my informant, and Beit Nebala should be corrected
into Bir Nebala, to the north of Neby Shamwil.

t In my note-book is the note, "or handle of a plough." I cannot now undertake to say
whether this is a variant derived actually from the narrative of my guide, or a commentary
resulting from the explanations given me by the fellahin.

\ I transliterate the Arab name S/ieiiiis and not S/icms, since it is really so pronounced :
Shhna or S/idnics. The vulgar Arabic of Syria has in fact faithfully handed down to us in this
word, as in other similar ones, the Hebrew vocalisation : Sliemesli ; it constantly applies the rule of
the segolated forms ; this is why they say Kodcus (cf. the Hebrew Kodesli) and not Kods, for the
name of Jerusalem ; be7iet, not bent, "daughter;" iehcn, not tebn, "straw," etc.

§ Jebbar, it need hardly lie said, is the Hebrew gibbor, " hero."

2 E

210 Arch(£olos[ical Researches in Palestine.

'.i

was erected to his memon,-. It is said that he was rather blind. His brother
was Samet, born like himself at Sar'a (Sur'ah).

The old people say : befii Sara il Beit el Jemdl enkatal S/tenishfitn el
Jebbdr, "between Sar'a and Beit el Jemal* the hero Samson was killed." To
this ver)- day the Sheikh in charge of the sanctuar)- of Abu Meizar, who
comes from Beit A'tab, claims one-fourth of the produce of the olives between
Deir Aban and 'Ain Shemes, in virtue of the promise made to the hero by
his fellow citizens of Sar'a. One day a fellah who had refused to pay the
traditional due, obtained blood instead of oil, when he came to press his
sacrilesfious fruit

'Ellin. — From 'Ain Shemes we turned down towards the east by south-
east into the \\'ady 'Ellin ('Alin). The upper part of this is much widened
out, and bears the name of Merdj 'Ellin, "the meadow of 'Ellin." If the
word Abel^l^, "meadow," in i Sam. vi, i8, were not, as it seems it is, an
old clerical error for pN, " stone," we might be tempted to locate there the
great "meadow" of Joshua the Beth-Shemite, where the Ark was placed on
its return from Philistia.

At the head of the Wadv^ 'Ellin are the ruins of Kh. 'Ellin. Husre
blocks lie strewn about in everj^ direction, some of them preserving traces of
arrangement in rows, indicating that they form part of demolished buildings.
The makam of SJieikh 'Ellin consists of a small rectangular enclosure of loose
stones ; it is a liaram open to the sky, with no trace of masonr}" about it.
The Sheikh 'Elhn came from Beit Xettif, three miles and a half to the south ;
he was brother and enemy to Neby Heidar, who is worshipped not far from
there at Umm Jina.

'Ellin must have been a centre of population not so ver)- long ago, for it
appears on the MS. administrative list in my possession, and in that of
Robinson. The site tempts one to locate there one of the towns mentioned
in the Bible as being in the neighbourhood. Two conjectures have been
hazarded within the last few years. I had thought of those for myself, but
even now am at a loss which to adopt. They are : Enam in Judah Qoshua
XV, 34), and Elon in Dan (Joshua xix, 43). Both are philologically tenable.

* The expression " between Sar'a and Beit el Jemal " curiously recalls one that occurs twice
over in the account given in the book of Judges : " Between Zorah and Eshthaol " (Mahaneh Dan,
and the family tomb of Samson) ; as well as the constant association of these two towns. It
implies, as I have already remarked, the identity of Beit el Jemal and Eshtaol in fellah tradition,
which seems in this respect to agree with the tradition recorded by the authors of the Onomasticon.
I note this curious fact without attaching otherwise any importance to it.

Toitr from Jeriisalein to Jaffa and the Conntry of Samson. 211

As regards the second, I will add that one might equally well, if not better,
from the topographical and onomastic point of view, identify Elott with 'Alein
{D/iahr), a little west of Beit Mahsir.

Tantilra. — An ancient road cut in the rock goes down from Kh. 'Ellin
to the Wady Deir Aban. We took this in order to reach the village which
gave it its name. Our guide either could not or would not take us to Tantura,
the existence of which had been expressly mentioned to us by the fellahin
of 'Artuf * I was keenly desirous of visiting this place on account of its
suggestive name. From his confused account it would appear that Tantura
is also called Sdfieh (L>jL, not ajjU).

Neby Sh"eib. — Before arriving at Deir Aban, and while deviating left and
right a little to find Tantura, we came to the Wddy Bir ez Zn7-ra, where we
found a rocky mound with the ruins called Kh. Umni ed Dahab ; it is crowned
by the wely of Neby SJi'etb.^

Bir ez Ziirra. — Opposite to the east, at the bottom of the valley, is the
well of Bir ez Zurra. Above, on the hill-side, in the direction of 'Ain
Shemes, we perceived at some distance a ruin called Kh. es Sidgh, "the ruin
of the goldsmiths," the name of which seems to form a pendant to that
of the neighbouring ruin Kh. Umm ed Dahab, "the ruin of the mother of
gold."

To Deir Aban. — To ^et to Deir Aban from the bottom of the vallev, we
had a nasty piece of climbing over rocks, where we were in continual peril of
breaking our necks. As we neared the village, I noticed numerous cisterns
and caves hewn out in the rock. The village rises in terraces on the side of
the hill. The mosque is called by an insignificant and very common sort of
name, el'Amery. There are in addition two w'elys, one oi Sheikh 'Obeid, the
other of the Arba'm, "forty" (martyrs). In the upper part of the wall of the
mosque we noticed a piece of sculpture, and M. Lecomte made a drawing

of it.:^

IVdd Sherk. — To the south of Deir Aban is a small valley of no length,
called She'b Wdd Sherk, W'hich joins the Wdd Deir Aban after passing by
the foot of the village. I am not sure about the exact form of the name. It
sounded to me like Sherk j^, but it may have been cherk, the initial ch being

* Their statements were confirmed a few hours later by the fellahin of Deir el Hawa, but
we were already too far off to go back.

t Sho'eib, who is, as is well known, the representative of the Jethro of the Bible in Mussulman
legend.

X This drawing cannot be found.

2 E 2

2 12 Archtpolorical Researches in Palestine.

"i> '

partially merged in the final d of the word zudd: ludd clierk. In this case
the original form would be j/, which is not likely ; tl// would do very well,
but in that case it ought to have sounded to me cliereh, not cherk*

Deir Abdn. — The question arises whether Deir Aban represents an
ancient town, and if so, what ? The name is found in identically the same
shape in other parts of Palestine,t and even right up near Damascus.^ This
then makes three monasteries at least that have borne the name of Abdn.
Their origin remains involved in obscurity, and the relation established between
these three widely separated localities by this similarity of name defies
detection. As to the Deir Aban near 'Ain Shemes, I have already asked
myself the question§ whether this puzzling name Abdit might not stand for
the Hebrew word Eben, "stone, rock," and whether, in this event, our Deir
Aban might not be connected with that Eben which plays so important a part
in two episodes of Israelitish history that appear to have occurred in this very
neighbourhood.

The following is the manner in which I endeavoured to state the problem,
in an article published in 1876 || :^

(i) The Great Eben. The Philistines, bringing back the Ark on a
waggon from Ekron to Beth-Shemes, reach the verge of that city, now
represented by 'Ain Shemes (i Sam. vi, 13). The waggon stops in the field
of Joshua the Beth-shemite, where there was a great stone {Eben) ; the ark
is rested on the "great stone," a sacrifice is offered in this place, and the cows
which were drawing the Ark are sacrificed (vv. 14, 15). A little further on
(v. 18), in speaking of the gold offerings, the narrator returns to this "great
stone "^ on which the Ark was rested, and which is pointed out to this day
in the field of Joshua; it seems this time to indicate clearly the limit of the

Philistine territory ("to the great stone "), which, moreover, is confirmed

by the fact that the Philistines go no farther, and that, after accompanying
the Ark to this point, they return to Ekron. The memory of this event is,
if my opinion is correct, preserved in the name of Deir Abdn. As to the

* I doubt its being the Wady el Kerk'ak of the Name Lists {h6J), the valley of Deir Aban
into which the little valley runs that I am speaking of.
t Between Sebaste and Kalansaweh.

I Yakdt, Mdjeth el Buldan, s.v.

§ Quarterly Statement, 1874, p. 279.

II Academy, October 28th, 1876.

51 Abel, " meadow," must be corrected into eben "stone," in the opinion of all the com-
mentators.

Tour fro)u Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Sainsoji. 213

extraordinary importance assigned it by the Bool; of Samuel, this is explained
by the following considerations : — •

(2) Eben. fia-ezer. The Israelites on their way to attack the Philistines,
who had advanced to Aphek, encamp — probably on the confines of their
territory— near the stone of succour {Eben fia-ezer). Beaten the first time,
they bring up the Ark from Shiloh, and again try the fortunes of battle.
They are completely defeated, and the Ark, which falls into the hands of the
Philistines, is transported by them from Eben ha-ezer to Ashdod (i Sam., ii).
These events occur, be it understood, before those we have just related.

Is it not natural that later on the Ark should have been carried back to
the same point where it had been captured ? On the very same spot where
the sacrilege had been committed should the expiation be made. Now this
spot bears precisely, as we have seen above, the name of "the great stone"
iyEben).

There is yet another argument. It is only farther on (chap, vii) that
the narrator tells us the origin of the name of Eben ha-ezer, whence it results
that, at the moment of the return of the Ark, the place did not yet bear this
name of Eben fia-ezer, and that the narrator only used it by anticipation when
speaking of the previous defeat of the Israelites. As the religious outrage
inflicted on the Ark had been repaired on the very same spot where it had
taken place, so the national outrage was to be atoned for under identical
conditions. It was at Eben ha-ezer itself that the Israelites, beaten at Eben
ha-ezer, were to take under the leadership of Samuel a signal revenge. It
was then only that the battle-field, determined by the position of Maspha,
Bethkar, Sen (and Aphek) was consecrated by the erection of a stone, to
which Samuel gave the name of Eben ha-ezer, "stone of succour."* It
marked the point reached by the pursuit, and the Philistines never again
crossed tfie borders of Israel.

It results therefore from these comparisons, which I can now only briefly
indicate, waiving certain obscure points, that —

1. The place where the Israelites were beaten and where they lost the
Ark did not assume till a later date the name of Eben fia-ezer.

2. It was to this same spot, this time called Eben, that the Philistines
carried back the Ark.

* It results from a passage in Josephus that the stone must have borne in certain Hebrew
MSS. the name of Azaz \Vi, "strength, strong," with a final zaiii instead of a resti, for he
translates this name by iaxt'pdi', "strong."

2 14 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

3. The Israelites, having beaten the Philistines in their turn at this same
place, called it Eben ha-ezer.

4. This place must have been on the confines of the Philistines and the
Israelites — may perhaps even have been one of the boundary-marks.

5. All these data, including that of the Onomasticon*' apply remarkably
well to Deir Aban.

Before leaving this in many respects most interesting region — the land of
Samson as we may call it — to pursue the narrative of our tour, I think I ought
to add a few words on certain questions more or less closely connected vvith it.

'Eselin [Mslin). — The ruins of 'Eselin, lying just a little to the north-east of
Sar'a, do not appear to have attracted the attention of archaeologists
before 1874, at any rate from the onomastic point of view. M. Guerin
confines himself to relating a local legend, unknown to the fellahin whom I
questioned on the matter, to the effect that the sanctuary of Sheikh Gherib at
'Eselin is the genuine tomb of Samson. This legend, if relied upon, and
combined with the modern theory identifying Eshu' with Eshtaol, would
involve the conclusion — Zoreah being indubitably Sar'a — that 'Eselin is
identical with Mahaneh-Dan, which was situated, like the family tomb ol
"Samson, "between Zorah and Eshtaol." But this legend, even supjDosing it
exists, is far too weak a basis to support such a conclusion in topography, 1
have shown above that the dim traditions of the fellahin concerning Samson,
which are arbitrarily fastened on to various more or less fabulous persons,
placed his tomb, either implicitly or explicitly, elsewhere than at 'Eselin.
Accordingly we must not build on the notion.

There remains for consideration the name 'Eselin, and whether it
represents a Bible name. At first sight it has an entirely Arab appearance,
and seems connected with the word 'asal, "honey." But we know that we
often have to mistrust these names of purely Arab appearance. Tibneh,
"chopped straw," one would swear was Arabic, but it is beyond a doubt that
it is the name of the town of Timnah, brought into that shape by one of those
popular etymologies which are as dear to the peasantry of Palestine as to
those of our European countries. The same is true, I think, of the name of

* The Onomasticon in fact {s.v., 'A/Seve^ep, Abenezer) places Eben ha-ezer near the village
of Bethsames, between Jerusalem and Ascalon. This quite tallies with the position of Deir Aban,
and seems to imply that Eusebius and St. Jerome were also of opinion that the "great stone"
where the Ark rested on its return from Ekron, was identical with Eben ha-ezer.

Totir from Jcnisalcni to Jaffn and tJie Coitntry of Samson. 2 1 5

'Eselin ; it conceals from us some Bible name, but what name is it ? I have
suggested that of the town of Ashnah mentioned in the same verse (Joshua xv,
33) (between Zoreah and Eshtaol, forming the usual group of three) as
belonging to Judah.

From the phonetic stand-point, the Arabic ^^d..^ would quite exactly
represent the Hebrew H-irt^ : the initial aleph, in contact with the shin,
would have changed to '«/«, as in the name of Ascalon, (pVpt^ ^^ = ^iL*.j;) ;
the mht to lam, as in the name of Skunem (U'yW = Saulam, Jj-.-)- As for the
addition of the termination vi, so frequent in the Arab toponymy of Palestine,
it is easy to explain. So we may say that from this quarter the identification
of Ashnah and 'Eselin would encounter no difficulty.

From the topographical point of view, the proximity of Sara (= Zoreah)
forms another argument in its favour." But under this second head there is an
objection that I have started against myself, and gives me pause. In
chap, xix, 41 of the same book of Joshua, we see Zoreah and Eshtaol separated
from the territory of Judah and assigned to that of Dan ; here also they form
a group of three, but no more with Ashnah, that name being replaced by Ir-
Shemesh (='Ain Shemes,* to the south of Sar'a). The alternative is obvious ;
either Ashnah is identical with Ir-Shemesh ;t or else Ashnah, if it is to stay
in the territory of Judah, must have been situated to the south of Sar'a, and
even south of 'Ain Shemes, the territory of Dan being to the north of the
contiguous territory of Judah. In either case it becomes difficult to identify
Ashnah with 'Eselin, which is to the north-east of Sara, and consequently
well into the Danite territory. This is why I am now inclined to ask whether
'Eselin would not be simply Eshtaol. Certainly the onomastic identity in this
case is not so immediately striking as with Ashnah, but still it is far from
impossible.

As to the first syllable 'cri^ = (o*j;, the proof is ready to hand; the/ is
preserved. The disappearance of the t (n) remains to be accounted for, but it
is provided with precedents, as it happens, in names of towns of analogous
form, that is to say, in which the t is not radical; e.g., Eshtemoa TV^TWi^,
J^Dnil^N = es Semu' c,.^*Jl • It is even possible that this t may have left a

* The question would of course assume a new aspect if the generally admitted identity of
Ir-Shemesh and Beth-Shemesh were to be rejected.

t This hypothesis I cannot here discuss, but after all it is not quite untenable, if it be borne
in mind that Ir-Shemesh is not mentioned, any more than Beth Shemesh is, in the list of the
towns of Judah, though Beth-Shemesh certainly formed part of the territory of that tribe.
(Joshua XV, 10, and, especially, xxi, 16.)

2i6 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

slight trace behind it in the reduplication of the sin. This reduplication is
hard for the ear to catch, but may still be a real one : 'Esse/in, 'Ess/ni, which
would be for 'Estclin, 'Esi'lm.* To this should be added the power of
attraction of the significant Arabic word 'asal, "honey," which may have
brought about the deviation of the word towards this meaning. It is certain
that 'Eseihi is phonetically speaking less distant from Eshtaol than Eshu',
which hitherto found more ready acceptance. Topographically the two sites
are equally likely, on account of their nearness to Sar'a.t

Sdireh. — Just a little to the west of Beit A'tab is a ruin called
Kh. es Sa'trek. I was unable to visit it, though its name, which appears on
Robinson's list along with ZaniV, Yarmuk, Shueikeh, etc., had attracted my
attention. I had proposed {Quarterly Statement, 1875, P- ^82) to recognise
in it the Skaaraim of Joshua xv, 36. The onomastic identification is beyond
reproach. The topographical position, which I had not been able at the time
to determine exactly, may, however, raise some difficulties ; in fact, Sa'ireh
seems rather too far to the east to fit in with the details of the narrative in
I Samuel xvii, 52, where we see the Philistines, beaten by the Israelites in the
valley of Elah, fleeing allong the road to Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
It must be said, however, that several commentators, following herein the view
of the Septuagint, regard Shaaraim as not being here the name of a town, but
as a substantive meaning "the gates" or "the two gates." In this case
naturally the difficulty vanishes, the topographical question itself being no
longer existent.

* The addition of the long termination hi — which is derived perhaps, as in many analogous
instances, from an old ethnic plural ("the Eshtaolites ") — involved the reduction of the medial
diphthong ao to ail [cf. vXn!."i<)j and paved the way for its transformation into a short vowel,
destined finally to disappear or to become imperceptible. The strengthening of the initial akph
to 'a'tn could only further the displacement of the centre of gravity of the word.

t It is more difficult to bring back the Arabic form Eshu to the Hebraic form Eshtaol by
the application of the ordinary principles governing the phonetic transformation of place names
from Hebrew to Arabic. It is certain that, rightly or wrongly, native tradition points to some
such name as JJIC" in this name Eshu ; accordingly, several commentators have proposed to
recognise in it the town of Jeshi/a (Neh. xi, 26), although, to judge from the context, Jeshna
appears to have formed part of a group of towns much more to the south. Has the Neby Eshu' of
local legend given his name to the village of the same name, or borrowed it from it ? In the first
case we might admit that the ancient name corresponding to Eshtaol had disappeared, and was
replaced by this new name. The legend, as I have shown, assigns a foreign origin to this neby
Eshu". I have already remarked that the name recalls both that of Joshua the Beth-shemite
(i Sam. vi, 14, t8) and that of the Canaanite Shuah, the father-in-law of Judah (Gen. xxxviii, 2).
I have previously noted (information obtained at Yebna, p. 184) that the ethnic of the inhabitants
of Eshu' is Yeshuany in the singular, and Shcwanch in the plural.

Tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 2 1 7

Crusaders' Casals. — Many of the villages of this region appear to have
been occupied by the Crusaders. There is a group of five casals mentioned
several times over in charters of the twelfth century* as having been given
originally to the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, along with their farms and
dependencies, by a certain John Gothmann.

(i) Bcthahatap; variants: Bethaatap, Bet /map, Be it at ap, Betatap.

(2) Derhassen ; variants : Derassen, Derasen,

(3) Derxerib ; variant: Derxerip.

(4) C^di.

(5) Vastina Leonis.

The first, as M. Rey and Herr Rohricht have perceived, is certainly
Beit A'tdb (to the south-east of Deir Aban). It is clear that the other four
are to be sought for in the same region, and this debars us from the
attempted identifications made by Herr Rohricht with various localities that
are situated at much too great a distance. I therefore propose to identify the
second (= Deir Hasan) with the Kh. Hasan,\ to the north-west of Sar a ; the
third with Deir Shebib\ to the north of Sar a ; the fourth with Kh. Kila,\ to
the north of Deir Shebib; and the fifth, Vastina Leonis, "the guastine of the
Lion," with Kh. el Asad, " the ruin of the Lion,"|| to the south-west of
Beit A'tab.

Legends of Place Names.— \ have noted in the fellahin folk-lore a certain
number of legends which, as we have seen, centre round the traditional
memories of Samson. I am of opinion that these more or less superficial
traditions are yet deeply rooted in the soil, and may be found attaching to
certain place-names in the environs of Sara, the country of Samson. In
the Bible narrative even a process of localization is perfectly evident,
which consists in explaining the origin of certain place-names by certain acts

* De Roziere, Cartulairc du Saint Sepulcre, pp. 195, 197, 266, 279.

t Not far from here is the homonymous ruin called Kh. El Haj Hasan.

% Derxerib, Derxerip, must result from a copyist's error for Derxebib (R for B). One might
also take into account the S/ieik/i G/ier'ib of 'Eslin, but I have doubt about it.

§ Herr Rohricht is divided between this Kila and one of the many names compounded with
the word Kal^a, " fortress."

II Here is perhaps an arbitrary localization of the legend of the lion that Samson slew as he
went down to Timnah. It is hardly necessary for me to remark that this place, styled " of the
Lion," is situated quite off the line of route from Sar'a to Tibneh, which probably represents the
Timnah of the Bible narrative. On the other hand, there is another place also called 7ib>ta,
half-way on the road to Sar'a, and lying to tlie south of Beit A'tab. It is possible that the legend
has been diverted to this locality.

2 F

2 1 8 ArchiBological Researches in Palestine.

attributed to the Danite hero. It appears strikuigly in the marvellous story
of t\\<t jawbone of an ass, in the account of Ramath Lehi and the spring of
En Hakkore ; it is less explicit, but still probable, as I think, in that of the
three hundred foxes (which might have reference to the name of the Danite
town Shaalbini {SImalwi) ; it exists perhaps, without being declared, in other
episodes, where it is beyond our reach. It looks as if the compiler of the
Book of Judges by multiplying these points of topographical connection had
done his best to fix on Danite soil the more or less mythical personality
that we know under the name of Samson.* Local tradition has, I think,
subsequently carried on this process. It is one that is not peculiar to any
epoch, and in some cases does not shrink from identifications of the most
arbitrary description. I will confine myself to pointing out a few short hints :

Khiirbet Ndkilra (^yU), to the north of Deir Aban, recalls En
Hakkore ;t

The sanctuary of Sheikh Nedhtr, to the north-west of Sara, recalls how
Samson was consecrated as nazir ( jj^j', "i''W) ;

Quite near this is Kh. Ism Allah, "name of God ;" cf. the appearance
of the angel and the "secret name" to which he alludes;

Also near this is Kh. Kefr Urieh ; cf. the young lion that Samson tore
in pieces (mi"l« TED^, hj^y<>) \\

To the south-west of Sar'a is Deir et Tdhuneh, the name of which means
"the convent of the mill;" but it must not be forgotten \}cv3X tdhtlneh ?\so
means in Arabic "molar (tooth);" cf. the molar of the ass's jawbone, whence
Jehovah made the miraculous spring to flow ;

'Eselin, an ancient name brought in to the form of 'asal, " honey ;" cf
the honey found by Samson in the carcase of the lion, etc.

* Beginning perhaps with the actual name of Samson, though Zoreah is given in the Bible
as the home of the hero, it may well be that his name has some connection with that of the
neighbouring town of Beth Shanesh. Many different legends must have been current in the
tribe of Dan about the origin and exploits of the hero, though the book of Judges has only
handed down to us an insignificant part of them.

t This identification was suggested to me as early as 1870 by the existence of the name,
which was noted by M. Guenn without further comment. Since then, I see, in 1887, M. Schick
has proposed it, but he takes up a position of historical reality and actual identity which I am not
inclined to adopt. Nakiira, properly speaking, means "trumpet."

X Cf. also Khiirbet el Ased, " the Lion's Ruin," to the south-west of Beit A'tab, which I
have already mentioned. The legend has man.iged to take its course all about these parts, and
to fix itself at several points in succession.

Toitr from Jeriisalcm to Jaffa and tJie Country of Samson. 219

A careful comparison of the Bible text and the toponymy of the district
would probably enable us to increase the number of these popular allusions,
which already form a homogeneous and significant whole.*

From Deir Aban to Jerusalem.

Deir el Hawd. — From Deir Aban we proceeded to Deir el Hawa, where
we halted for lunch. I noticed in the village some ancient architectural
remains, among others two bases, a column, and a carved stone, in which we
thought we could detect a part of a balustrade. In the village itself are
numerous caverns. One of these is a makam sacred to Sheikh Selmdn. I
had already found a similar case of an old cave serving as a sanctuary, at
el Midieh, the modern representative of the Modin of the Book of Maccabees.
Entrance is gained to the cave by a stone door. Observing that the lintel
was besmeared with a sort of reddish paste, I inquired the reason, which
I found to be very curious. When the women make a vow, to obtain the
cure of a sick child, for instance, they say, " I will give so much henna to the
wely, one, two, or three piastres' worth of henna, if my child recovers."
When their prayers are heard they make a paste with henna and smear the
door of the sanctuary {bet'hannu 'l-bdb). This practice vividly recalls that of
the anointing of the sacred stones.

I observed likewise that before entering the sacred cave it was usual to
touch the lintel with the hand, asking for dcstiir, "permission," and to avoid
-Stepping on the threshold. t The cave is vast and irregularly hewn. The
visitor enters a first chamber and passes thence to a second. There are
probably other openings leading to chambers, but they are stopped up with
large stones.

Ancient Caves. — Opposite Deir el Hawa, on the other side of the wide
and deep valley of Wad Isma'in, we saw, on the side of the mountain over
against us, towards the north, the gaping mouth of a large cave forming
a sort of enormous bay with a rounded top. This cave, I was told by the

* I have already drawn attention to the existence of a makam of Neby Sh'eib, to tlie north-
west of Deir Aban. It is not easy to see why the Arabic name of Jethro comes to be here.
Sk"e'ib suggests the Se'i'ph of the rock Etam ; we know, as a matter of fact, that the Hebrew and
Arabic roots :]yD and v_;i^ are very closely related as regards their form and the meaning of
their derivatives. It should be noted that this S/i"dh is quite near Kh. Nakura.

t Cy! I Sam. v, 5.

2 F 2

2 20 Archceoloo-ical Researches in Palestine.

fellahin of Deir el Hawa, is also a makam, consecrated to Sheikh Ismain, who
lived there once upon a time. It is called E'rdk Sheikh Ismain. It is huge
enough to hold the whole population of the country-side, both man and beast.
Inside it is an ancient keniseh (church). The appearance of this cavern, its
position, and the peasants' description, tempted me to the idea of locating
there the famous rock of Etam, where Samson is represented as hiding* in the
Book of Judges. By the side of E'rak Ismain the fellahin indicated to me
another large cavern called 'Aid/e 7 Bendf. They added that in former days
all these caverns, on both sides of the valley, served as dwelling-places for the
Kuffar.

Khiirbet es Sciideh. — From Deir el Hawa we pursued our way towards
Jerusalem, passing by way of Kh. es Sa'ideh, where I wished to copy an
inscription, of which M. Guerin had only been able to take down two words.
We bent our course towards the south-east, so as to rejoin the ancient Roman
road, leaving on our right the wely el Hdiibany, and farther on, at some distance
off, Kh. Fukin. Then we went up again in a north-easterly direction to
el Kabu, where we made a short halt for a drink of the delicious water of the
spring there. From here we proceeded to Kh. es Sa'ideh, along a deep
valley. I hastened to get there before the sun, which was beginning to sink,
should set ; so could make no observations during this last portion of the
journey. We made a rapid survey of the ruins of Kh. Dcii- es Sa'ideh, utilizing
the last rays of sunshine to look for the fragment of Greek inscription noted
by M. Guerin. We came upon it placed upside clown in the corner of a dry-
stone wall of modern construction. M. Lecomte immediately set to work to
make a careful drawing of it.

Meanwhile I examined the ruins, which are of considerable size, and
appear to have belonged to a convent of the Byzantine period. The
Crusaders, however, must have occupied it later, for among the materials of
one ruined structure, graced with the name of wely, and consecrated to the
Sheikh Ahmed, I noticed a block with the mediaeval tool-marks clearly shown.
Not far south from here, in the valley, is another ruin, called Kh. Abii V-
EKiveiz. However, it was too late to think of going to visit it, and I preferred
to devote what little time we had left to finishing the exploration of the ruins.
It was well I did so, for it was not long before I discovered, among the blocks

* I see that M. Schick, on his side, came to this conclusion when he visited these places in
1883 {Zdtschrift des Deuischen Palastina-Vereins, X, p. 133). Indeed he is much more positive
than I care to be,

Tour from Jerjisalem to Jaffa and the Country of Samson. 221

that strewed the ground, to the south of the small wely, a second inscribed
fragment. I saw at a glance that this must be a continuation of the former
one. It becomes evident, in fact, on bringing together the two drawings that
M. Lecomte made separately, that the primitive inscription can be recon-
structed in its entirety, at least relatively so, as I shall presently explain.

A is the portion mentioned by M. Guerin, b the portion discovered by me.

I.INTEL AT KH. DEIR ES SAIDEH.

JUii

UNDER SURFACE OK THE 1. INTEL.

It will be seen that the whole formed a large lintel 2"'8o long. The
under surface of fragment v, is fitted with recesses, due probably to the block
being used for a fresh purpose later on, either by Crusaders or Arabs. The
inscription was divided into two symmetrical portions contained each within a
cartouche with triangular ears, and separated by a cross inscribed in a circle.*

K TovTO KTijcrixa MapCvov St.aK6(vov)
" this is the foundation of the deacon Marinos."

KxTjcr/xa is for KTio-jxa. Hitherto all that was known of this inscription
was the beginning, which remained incomprehensible ; t but we now see that

* Father Germer-Durand, who subsequently made a study of the object {Revue hiblique,
1893, p. 209), declares he has distinguished in the four corners of the cross the well-known
Christian sigles :

t M. Guerin read: Kcii loZno Kti^ifut, "and this acquisition;" both the reading and the
translation are altogether inadmissible. KriJ/tn is sometimes found in ecclesiastical language in
the sense oiJ>rcediuiit ; on this point see the Bollandisls, 28 September, p. 622, note h.

222 Archo'olos'ical Researches in Palestine.

it gives us the name of the founder of the convent which formerly existed at
Kh. es Sa'ideh, the tradition of which is contained in the appellation deir
given to this ruin by the Arabs, as I have already remarked.

In the Life of St. Euthymios (§ 14 and 29) mention is made of two
disciples of this Saint, who play a great part in the religious history of
Palestine in the fifth century, namely Loukas and Marinos, founders of
monasteries not far from Jerusalem. The first, Loukas, built a monastery
in the neighbourhood of Metdpa, now Unini Toba, between Jerusalem
and Bethlehem, and his very name is preserved in that given to the
neighbouring ruin, Kh. btdr Lickd ("the ruin of the wells of Luka"), near
Deir el 'Anmd. The second, Marinos, founded in the same neighbourhood
the monastery called monastery of Photinos. It occurs to me that the
deacon Marinos of our inscription may be the same person, and consequently
that the convent of Kh. es Sa'ideh may be the monastery of Photinos that
he founded. It was not uncommon for deacons to be entrusted with
founding monasteries ; thus that created on the site of the laura of this same
St. Euthymios was built by the deacon Fidus. But though admitting the
identity of the personage, we may hesitate as to the identity of the monastery
founded by him. From Umm Toba to Kh. es Sa'ideh is six miles and a half
This distance may appear rather great when we consider how closely the
monasteries built by Loukas and Marinos are connected in the narrative
where they appear. One would be inclined a priori to look for the convent
of Marinos nearer Umm Toba, in one of the numerous ruins of Christian
origin that have been noticed in the neighbourhood. However, the distance
of Kh. es Sa'ideh is not great enough to form a fatal objection. A more serious
difficulty is that the inscription does not contain the name of Photinos, which
belonged to the monastery founded by Marinos. But is the inscription
complete, in spite of appearances ? It begins with a K, having a mark of
abbreviation appended, which is rather difficult to account for, not in itself but
in its relation to the context. To explain it by the word Kypto?, Kvpte, "Lord,"
is not satisfactory ; the religious invocation would be short and somewhat
awkward to bring into the construction of the sentence ; besides, the word
Kvpto? is never abbreviated in this manner. As a general rule, this K is the
abbreviation in current usage for K(ai), "and." If this value be assigned to it
here, the aspect of the inscription is entirely changed: ''and this is the
foundation of the deacon Marinos." It becomes merely the continuation of a
lost sentence which perhaps contained the mention we should expect of the
name of Photinos, after whom the monastery was called. We may suppose

Tour from /enisala/i io Jajjct and the Count ly of Satuson. 223

that this hntel formed a pair with another of the same kind, in some eirchitec-
tural scheme such as we can easily imagine, a double door for instance. The
way in which our inscription is divided into two parts enclosed in cartouches
independent of each other would help to bear out this view. The proof of
this hypothesis perhaps lies hid in the ruins, in the shape of one or more
similar blocks containing the beginning of the inscription, the end being really
all that we have. At any rate we are justified in supposing that the Marinos
of the Life of St. Euthymios may have built, besides the monastery of
Photinos, another one which is that at Kh. es Sa'ideh ; but, taking everything
into account, I am rather inclined to regard this latter as the actual monastery
of Photinos.

Return Home. — The sun had already set when we left Kh. es Sa'ideh,
and the rest of the journey was taken in darkness. It was a quarter past
eight when we got back to Jerusalem, whence we had started seventeen
days before.

CHAPTER V.

G E Z E R.

I. — Gezer Revisited.

After a few days of much needed repose at Jerusalem, I resolved to set out
without further delay on my way to Gezer, with a view to making a thorough
exploration there.

Herein I was actuated by a twofold motive.

First, I wished to ascertain whether there were any other inscriptions like
the one I had discovered, the importance of which daily assumed greater
proportions in my eyes. My train of reasoning, which, as will be seen, was
amply justified by facts, was this : If this inscription really marks, as I think,
the limit of a certain zone of country dependent on Gezer, it is extremely
probable that it is not the only one of its kind ; a limit involves a line, and a
line a series of points more or less distant from one another ; the moment one
of these points has been determined by an inscription cut on a rock, it neces-
sarily follows that there are some more boundary marks spaced out on the same
epigraphic system. Further, I had been much struck with the fact that the
Inscription discovered was situated exactly to the true east of Tell el Jezer.
With this notion in my head, that the limit in question was likely to be not a
line of demarcation between two adjacent territories, but a periphery normally
orientated and enclosing the whole city, I said to myself that, by trusting to
the orientation of the cardinal points, I had a good chance of coming across
some other inscriptions belonging to the same series, in spite of the physical
difficulty of exploring all the rocks of complicated shape that surround the
tell ; in this way my researches would become circumscribed and notably
facilitated.

The other reason that impelled me to return to Gezer was the desire I
felt, apart from the study of all the questions raised by my find, to have this
precious inscription cut out of the rock and put in a safe place, so as to remove
it from those risks of destruction which it hitherto had miraculously escaped.
My intention then was to have a short note of the occurrence cut in the rock,
so as to mark the place.

Geser.

225

I secured the services of four good stonemasons, reliable, skilled work-
men. . . . We started on Sunday, June 20th,
Lecomte, our workmen, our servant, and myself.

Reaching our destination at nightfall, I

left our men in a dip of the ground, and with
the aid of Lecomte began searching for our
inscription.* We had no end of trouble in
finding this again, for being on a flat rock level
with the soil, it escaped observation. Though
we had carefully taken our bearings with the
compass at our last visit, it was no easy matter
to find one's true position in the rocky ground
with erratic undulations that extends all over
this district. The sun was on the point ol
disappearing behind the tell, and the bad light
was not calculated to aid our search. Finally,
we managed to find the rock just as the sun
was dipping below the horizon. I immediately
called up the main body of our forces, which
was getting impatient and beginning to wonder
at this long delay. The tent was pitched close
to the inscription, and we slept on the ground.

In the evening I studied the inscription

afresh, by the light oi a fine moon which made
every letter stand out in bold strokes, and was
fully confirmed as to the accuracy of my first
reading. Our master mason having examined
the rock by this brilliant but deceptive light,
declared it to be niizzeh yaJmdy. This was
serious, for the luizzch yahndy is the hardest

=^x-

* I append two reproductions of the inscription, the
first after photographs directly taken from the original, the
second (p. 226) after a drawing made by M. Lecomte. In
the first there will be noticed the difference oi colouring o{\.\\ii
two first letters ; this arises from the fact that this fragment,
the only one I was able to bring to London, was photo-
graphed separately and fitted on afterwards to the photo-
graph of the fragment now at Constantinople.

2 (i

226

Archcrolozicai Researches in Pa/esfi.

ue.

stone in Palestine, a cold compact limestone most difficult to work, chisels of
finest tempered steel breaking on it like glass. This portended a long and
severe task, so I went to bed feeling rather anxious.

Cir.ZRR (Inscriptiim A=).

Next morning at daybreak I set our men to work, and heaved a sigh ot
relief on seeing from the first strokes of the chisel that we had not to deal
with the viizzek yalmdy, but a softer sort of limestone, though traversed, it is
true, by cores of viizzeh. Even this was hard in places, especially at the
surface, but still workable. Moreover, we had no grounds for complaint at
this, since it was due to this hardness that the inscription had been
preserved proof against the destructive alternations of dew, sun, and rain.
. . . Meanwhile the work was making way. . . . Seeing this, I thought I might
leave the spot and take a stroll with a fellah of Kubab as guide. Lecomte

stayed behind to look after the workmen I began by taking some

observations with the compass, with a view to determining the position
of north and north-west, south and south-west, from our inscription. By
means of a landmark I connected the position of the inscription with
a point from which one could see the farmhouse of M. Bergheim
rising above the tell of Gezer, and observed 270° as the bearing with the
north-east corner of that building ;* consequently the inscription was clearly
to the true east of the tell. From another standpoint, a few yards north of
the inscription, I noted : — •j']^ on the axis of the guardhouse of Kubab, and
1 18|-° on the wely of Sheikh Mo'alla (?) near 'Amwas.

* Shortly afterwards, I went to M. Bergheim's farmhouse and tested my results in the other
direction, noting, from the south-east corner of that building, an angle of 9i|° with our tent,
which was visible from there. This is in pretty accurate agreement with my first observation.

Gezer. 227

Having clearly ascertained my position from the bearings, I called
together some other fellahin from Kubab who had joined the former ones,
and having pointed out to them by means of a series of landmarks, which
were provided by conspicuous features of the landscape, what line they were
to take, I directed them to examine carefully all the rocks along these lines,
telling them, if they noticed one with any characters on it like those of our
inscription, to let me know immediately, and promising, in case of success, a
fair reward. I relied, not unreasonably, on their lynx-like sight, and on the
stimulus given to their zeal by the hope of a good backsheesh.

This done, I set off on my own account to roam about the neighbourhood,
and examine various matters that I shall speak of later. . . . On the Tuesday
afternoon. . . . The fellahin, whom I had sent out the evening before on the
epigraphic chase described above, came running up, shouting gleefully
that they had found "a second inscription carved on the rock; the sister
of the other one {tikhfa)." I at once left the tent ... to go to the spot
indicated, not being yet able to believe in such speedy success, and distrusting
the imagination of my worthy " beaters." They were perfectly right. About
170 yards from the inscription that our men were engaged in cutting, and
in a line distinctly lying south-east and north-west, as I had foreseen, my
fellahin brought me to a fiat rock, nearly horizontal like the other, bearing
a magnificent bilingual Greek and Hebrew inscription. A glance was enough
to assure me that it was an exact repetition of the other, except that the Greek
and Hebrew, instead of being written one after the other on the same line,
were here arranged in two lines back to back. This arrangement, which may
at first sight appear peculiar, is easily explainable, the texts being cut not on
a vertical but a horizontal surface, round which one could move reading in
any desired direction. The characters, which here also were of very large
size, were in a perfect state of preservation. Moreover, the Greek name was
in this case written in full, AAKIOY, with the final npsilon, which I had judged
to be lacking in the first inscription, partly from a defect in the rock, and
partly from want of space, the cutter having miscalculated the length of the
line, which had to be respectively begun from the left for the Greek, and
from the right for the Hebrew. Thus the lingering doubts that might have
clung to the reading and interpretation of the first and less perfect text,
were utterly dispelled by the second.

But what was above all invaluable, was, that we were at last certain, by
means of this second fixed point, of the direction of the line of demarcation
mentioned in the two inscriptions. Henceforth it became extremely probable

2 ('■ 2

228

Arc/ueoIoQ-ica/ Researches in Palestine.

that another series of similar inscriptions might be discovered along this line
by extending it till it reached well to the north of Gezer. It was then that
I adopted the idea that the object of our investigations would turn out to

^'^"^■^,-

..::SrXt^- -^"V^

:^:

-■"«•, -Stry. .

— ■

-iW-»« \

\ -^

'A.

•■>.

*►*<

Gezer — (Inscriplion V^\

Gezer — (Inscription B-).*

■■..*

be a zone circumscribing Gezer, consisting ot a rectangle with its angles, not
its sides, facing the four quarters of the compass. However, this is not yet

* Bi was engravL-d after a poor photograph of the original; B- after a drawing by M. Lecomte
made with great care from the squeeze.

Gezer.

229

the phice to discuss the question. I resume my narrative. ... It was decided
that the second inscription should be likewise cut out, and after the two
operations were over the villagers should be paid the promised reward. . . .
After having, in company with M. Lecomte, examined the inscription and
made preparations for its excision, we returned to our tent. Suddenly, as we
were going along, we noticed some way ahead of us on our right, large
characters cut in the rock ; the sun was already low in the sky, and its rays
catching the characters at a favourable angle, they were clearly distinguishable
and at once attracted the eye. We went up, and I recognized with delight
four fine Hebrew letters belonging to the same alphabet as the Hebrew part
of the two other inscriptions. This third inscription, situated about half-way
between the two others, is not cut like them on an almost horizontal slab of
rock, but on a kind of almost perpendicular wall of rock, slightly concave.
Though shorter — its length is o™"94 — it is complete and in pretty good
preservation. My intention was to have it cut out, like the others, but the
course of events did not allow of this. Happily I took the precaution of
making a careful squeeze of it. We had had a really good day. . . .

Gezer (Inscription C).

Gezer (Inscii|ition C-).

On the Wednesday I went on with my exploration of the surrounding
country, while the stone-cutters went on with their task under the superin-
tendence of M. Lecomte. At nightfall the cutting-out of the first stone was
completed. On account of a Haw in the rock it broke into two unequal
portions, the smaller containing only two letters, the first two in the name

* Engraving C^ is made from a pbuKigrai.h of the squeeze; C- from a drawing by M.
Lecomte.

230 Arch(Tological Researches in Palestine.

A/kzos* I kept the latter by us in the tent, which I had had erected afresh
near the second inscription, the object of to-morrow's operations. The former
portion, containing the greater part of the inscription, I had put on the back

of one of our mules to be taken to On the Thursday morning, at the

first hour, the workmen made a vigorous onslaught on the second inscription.
I pressed them on to the best of my power, being in a hurry to have
done. I made yet another reconnaissance in the neighbourhood.

* * *

[Here fol/oivs, in the Authors viannscript, an account of occurrences ivhich
caused him mnch vexation, and considerably interfered with his plans. The
Connnittee has deemed it desirable to suppress this account, and several passages
referring to it in the preceding pages. These have therefore been struck out,
and their hlaces indicated by dots.^

II. — Ultimate fate of the Inscriptions.

For a long time I never knew what became of our inscriptions.
The first news I had of them reached me in an amusing way enough. In
1876, one of the pupils attending my lectures on Oriental archseology at the
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, M. Sorlin d'Origny, of Constantinople,
brought a copy of an inscription to show me that had been sent him by
Dr. Dethier, then Director of the Ottoman Museum of St. Irene. He had
already communicated it to MM. Lenormant and Renan, who took it to be
a Hebrew inscription beginning with the word r>D2J2, '' cippus," and from this
it had been supposed to be some Jewish funerary monument from Cyprus,
where the Jews were formerly numerous. .'\t first glance I recognized the
so-called epitaph as an old acquaintance ; it was none other than one of the
Gezer inscriptions, the one that lacked the two first letters A A ! From
information obtained from M. Dethier it appeared that the stone had been
sent from Jaffa, and, oddly enough, it was said to have been regarded as
marking " the boundary of the ancient Kondk of Jafta !" Here, it will be seen,
was a regular legend in course of formation. t Afterwards, in 1SS5, my friend

* See supra, note relating to engraving A^

t Already in 1874, popular legend had begun to seize upon this notion. The fellahin of the
neighbourhood understood pretty soon that these inscriptions related to some boundary,
and upon this basis their imaginations had set to work. A peasant of 'Amwas gravely assured me
that these inscriptions were to mark the limit of the territory of Hebron or of one of the numerous
waliefs attached to it.

Gez

er.

INI. J. Loytved saw the stone at the Constantinople Museum, and sent me a
copy of the inscription.

As for the other inscription, which was also removed from its original
place, it has not been noticed in the museum, so far as I know. What has
become of it ? The third is still in situ at Nejmet el 'Ades. Fortunately I
had been able to take squeezes and copies of the three texts. Thanks to
these, and the photographs that I procured later, I am able now, for the first
time, twenty years after their discovery, to give faithful reproductions of these
inscriptions. These will suffice, I hope, together with the explanations I shall
give, to answer certain doubts which, until lately, some people have been
pleased to leave hanging over their real worth and signification

1 II. — Further Discoveries.

In 1 88 1, seven years after this incident, I had occasion to return to
Palestine, and resumed, on my own account, the exploration of the
neighbourhood of Gezer, which had been so unduly broken off. I had
been persuaded all along that some more inscriptions must be in existence,
similar to those I had discovered, marking out the boundary of the town
towards the north-west. I started searching in this quarter, with the help of
the fellahin, as on the previous occasion ; it was not long before my labours
were crowned with success, for about two or three hundred yards to the north-
west of the first inscription I discovered some large characters, absolutely
similar to the former, and cut into the face of a rounded rocky platform with
almost perpendicular sides. I have no record of these characters, but a rough
sketch hurriedly made in my note book. I meant to go back and take a
squeeze of them, fix the exact position of the inscription, and pursue my
investigations on the spot ; but, unfortunately, I was suddenly recalled
to France, and was unable to carry out this intention. I regret this, for I
am convinced that there still remains quite a series of these texts to
be collected round about Gezer. I am certain that a search of this kind
would not be unfruitful, and earnestly recommend it to future Palestine
explorers.

In any case, here is the copy of this fresh inscription from the rough
sketch I made of it.

232 Arcluroiogical Researches in Palestine.

It is easy to recognize in the first line the word AAKIOY, in the second
the remains of the words iW Dnn, which have suffered considerably. The
two inscriptions, Greek and Hebrew, are ' lentical with the former ones, only

mh' mj

i-S^ "

GEZER. (Inscription D.)

in this case they are differently arranged, being placed one above the other
in the usual way, instead of being placed side by side as in the first inscrip-
tion, or back to back as in the second. The surface of the rock, moreover,
approaches much more nearly to the perpendicular than in the two other cases.
It really was a lucky accident of my search that I did not come upon
this third copy of the text first of all, for the Hebrew part being in this one
so much damaged, would probably have remained undecipherable ; I could
never have guessed that it contained the name of Gezer, that it indicated the
boundary of the city, and that, consequently, other specimens, in a better
state of preservation, and calculated to afford a clue to the puzzle, ought to be
searched for, and would be found at some distance from it. Certainly the
Greek inscription could not have made up for the silence of the Hebrew one,
for even now a number of people hesitate, wrongly enough, I must say, to
interpret the word as AAKIO or AAKIOY. Doubt, however, is no longer
admissible, the word is, as I shall prove, simply the genitive form of a man's
name AAKIOZ, belonging to some magistrate or person of note who presided
officially over the fixing of the boundary of Gezer.

Gezer.

233

Is this fourth inscription identical with the one noticed at Gezer by the
Survey Party after my earlier discoveries, and mentioned in the Memoirs ?*
I cannot exactly say. The position marked on the plan might be made to
agree with it, but the description given of it, and the only two marks that
are reproduced (flu) in nowise correspond with the details given above. It
may be merely a case of those marks of doubtful character, such as I have
found specimens of in various places round about Gezer, which I shall speak
of further on.

The new find that I made in 1881 has allowed me to state the rule
followed in setting out these curious epigraphical landmarks in the boundary
of Gezer. The town is encircled by small low undulating hills, with the rock
everywhere cropping out in them. Where the line of demarcation cuts through
these hills, they selected as sites for the landmarks the points where the line
touched the foot of the hill and where it left it on the further side, taklnof
them more or less at the same level. This observation is calculated, I think,
to facilitate further investigation of the ground containing the other similar
inscriptions which doubtless exist.

IV. — Various Marks on the Rocks.

I resume the narrative of my researches in 1874. As may well be
supposed, the discovery of these three inscriptions, one after the other, had
put me on my guard, and while sending out several fellahin as sleuth-hounds
and beaters, I utilized such leisure as was allowed me by the labours of our
stone-cutters, to explore the surrounding country, making a careful examination
of the smallest marks to be noticed on the rocks. I am persuaded that if we
had not been compelled by circumstances to beat a hasty retreat, we should
have discovered more of these texts marking out the Gezer boundary.

MARKS ON ROCKS NEAR GEZER.

II, p. 436; cf. Quarterly Statement, 1875, pp. 5, 74.

2 II

2 34 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

In several places the rock presents marks here and there, ot such a kind
that it is difficult to say whether they are signs cut by human hands and more
or less worn away, or merely freaks of nature ; for instance, furrows worn in
the rock, by the running roots of certain shrubs which have now disappeared
^.. . along with the vegetable soil in which they grew. Here

i-' W \ V'^X- '^'"6 some specimens we noted of these marks of doubtful
,^\ -i^LJl ■ origin (see engraving, p. 233).

The one which more than any resembles real
characters, suggesting the Hebrew alphabet, is the group opposite. I took
the following notes of its position, but cannot guarantee the correctness of
the angles, my time being so short: — Latrun blockhouse, 71°; great fig-tree
of Sheikh Ja'bas, 17°.

V. — Explorations around Gezer.

To the south of ' Ain Yardeh and the east of Abu Shusheh is a mound of
no great elevation which the fellahin call t'/ Kas'a. Here I noticed wide
esplanades cut in the rock, steps quite regularly cut, and a number of those
platforms once used as sites for houses, such as I have described in Chapter I.
I suppose el Kas'a corresponds to the spot marked as "Khurbet Yerdeh " on
the Survey Plan.

P'rom here I crossed the widy separating 'Ain Yardeh from the tell which
descends from Musa Tali'a to 'Ain Yardeh. Its name was given to me as
Wddy 'E//eik ( ijj_;). Between the spot where I crossed the wady and the
foot of the tell I noticed the site of a spring called 'Ain el Botnieh.

At the eastern extremity of the tell, at a spot bearing 80° on 'Ain Yardeh,
I noticed some fine presses and a double tomb with its entrance formed by a
rectangular ditch with open top, as in the case of the tombs in the neigh-
bourhood of el Midieh.

Quite close to here, at the foot of a large fig-tree that rises above 'Ain
Yardeh, there passes an ancient road, in great part rock-cut, running from east
to west, and ending at Ni'aneh, so the fellahin said.

I followed the other and more modern road which skirts the tell on the
south, and goes up from 'Ain Yardeh to Abu Shusheh. Shortly before
arriving below M. Bergheim's farm, and to the south-east of it, on a level
with the word ruin on the Survey Plan, there are on the left of the road as
you go up, a number of scattered blocks belonging to structures now vanished.

Gezer.

235

Here a piece of rock placed upright marks the exact position of the Tamuir,
or the 'Ain etTantmr, which plays a large part in local tradition, and will be
more fully treated of in dealing with the curious legend connected with it.

In spite of the name, there is not a trace of a spring ; however, I am
inclined to believe that one originally existed there, but has dried up, and that
the fellahin are not altogether in error when they say that the water of the
Tannur goes underground and comes out at 'Ain Yardeh. They say further
that the Tannur marks the origin of the Wady Tannur, which passes
successively by Yardeh, then to the east of el-Berriyeh,* to the east of Ramleh
and Lydda, between Kufiir 'Ana and Yazur, and finally flows into the sea,
after traversing the gardens of Jaffa.

On the Survey Plan the Tannur is marked in quite a different place, on
the eastern slope of the tell, due west of 'Ain Yardeh. This is a mistake, the
result of some confusion in the information got from the fellahin. i" I pointed
this out in 1878 to Lieut. Kitchener, who kindly proceeded to verify the fact,
and sent me a special sketch which fully confirms my observation. The
Survey Plan ought consequently to be rectified.

From here I went to the great cavern of Jaiha, to the south of the tell,
and satisfied myself anew that it was an old quarry, whence materials were
taken for the successive buildings of the town of Gezer. Here is the legend
about it that I gathered from the conversation of the fellahin : "The Jews
{Yahiid) had entrenched themselves in the cavern [inaghdra) of Jaiha in order
to fight against Noah, while the latter and his followers occupied Tell el
Jezer, which was formerly ' the town of our lord Noah ' {luedinet Sidnd NiVi).
They fired at him unseen, but Noah returned the fire, aimed at the cavern " —
an artillery duel, evidently, is meant — " and broke down the roof, which fell in
on the Jews and destroyed them. From this time forward the cavern was
called ya///^, because" — -jdhat'aleihein, — 'it fell in on them' (a-^jJ-: ^^j^i-l:^-)".
This queer legend wears a look that recalls in striking fashion certain stories
giving the etymologies of Bible place-names, but it has at least one merit from
our point of view — that of helping us to fix the genuine spelling of this name
which has been set down in the Memoirs under the rather divergfent forms
of Hejjiha and Jdeiha. There runs through this story of a cave, as it were
a vague echo of the drama of the Cave of Makkedah.

Continuing my southerly course, I went on from here to visit the sanc-

* Where there is a sanctuary dedicated to Sheikh Berry.
t Letter of March ist, 1878.

2 II 2

236 Arch(Bological Researches in Palestine.

tuary of Sheikh Jdbds, or rather Ja'dds, as the fellahin pronounce it. It
consists of a plain tomb, in the Arab style, surrounded with an enclosure, open
to the sky, formed of large blocks. A little beneath it stands a fig-tree, which
is visible for a great distance, and serves to indicate the spot as you approach
it from below. The tree is before the entrance of a cavern of considerable
size, regularly cut out.

Further on, and to the south-east, on the top of a hill, rises the sanctuary
of Miasa Tali'a or Esh Sheikh Milsd Talfa. It consists of a small kubbeh of
rough masonry-work, half in ruins, with a court in front of it ; the tomb is
original. Close by is a large cistern, with its mouth fashioned out of a fine
marble capital carved on two sides. I regret that I did not make a drawing
of this. I found no trace of the inscription which I had been told the previous
June was to be found there, but it does not follow that it is not really there.
The holy person answering to the name of Miisa was placed there, so the
fellahin say, as a ''scout" {tali'a) to "observe" (j-ii;) the movements of the
Christians, who were fighting with the Mussulmans in the Wad es-Serar.
The Christians surprised him at his post and killed him, he died the death of
the martyrs [shchid). It is a fact that the spot is situated on a commanding
point, whence there is a very fine and extensive view. The three points,
Tell el Jezer, Sheikh Ja'bas, and Sheikh Musa, are similarly situated in this
respect, accordingly the fellahin call them MUsa Tali'a, Jab'ds Tali'a, and
Jezery Tali'a, making these three more or less real personages into three
warriors of old, placed as scouts on the three places that command the region
round about. I am greatly inclined to believe that there is a hidden historical
basis to the legend of Miisa Tali'a, some incident of the great battle of Mount
Gisart between Saladin and the Franks, and that Mount Gisart, the site of
which has remained absolutely unknown up to the present time, was, as I
shall explain later on, none other than our Tell el Jezer.

From here I pushed on in the direction of Deir er Ruhban, passing by
Khirbet Bir el Moiyeh, where I noticed some scattered ruins on a low rising
ground between Deir er Ruhban and Kubab.

At Deir er Ruhban there is a huge broken-down cistern or bciydra, built
of stones with small irregular bosses ; the sides are covered with thick solid
concrete-work. The ruins were overgrown with thick impenetrable brush-
wood {i)inrrdr\ which made it very difficult to examine them. I made a
vain search there for an inscription which the fellahin had told me was there.
This perhaps may yet be discovered, for I have reason to believe their infor-
mation to be correct.

Gezer. 237

VI. — The Legend of Noaii and the Flood of Gezer.

Local tradition is strangely persistent in connecting the origin of Tell
el Jezer with the name of Noah and traditions of the Flood. I shall shortly
indicate what, in my opinion, is the reason of this.

Abu Shusheh himself, the more or less fabulous personage who has
given his name to the modern village is the subject of a curious legend,*
evidently forming part of the same cycle. He met his death by drowning in
a flood of water that came from underground. I will remark en passant that
this name Abu Shusheh, which properly speaking is merely a nickname
("the father of the tuft"), occurs again in other places in Palestine, for instance
in the neighbourhood of Caifa and of the Lake of Tiberias (Map, VIII, L.j.
and VI, O.g.). It is quite possible that in these cases also, as in that of
Gezer, the trivial name has displaced some ancient name of an old Bible city.t

I have already stated, in speaking of the Cave of Jaiha, that according to
the fellahin the town of Tell el Jezer was the town of Noah, medtnet Sidna
Nilh. Here is another legend that I gathered from their lips, relating to
'Ain Tannur, "the spring of the Oven."

Noah had said to his daughter (and not to his wife), "If anyone shall
come and say to me, ' taff et-tanntir (the Tannur has overflowed),'! ^ ^'^'
cut off his head." One day his daughter went to knead or bake the bread
(tokhbcz), and found the water rushing out of the Tannur. She came back to
her father, and he asked her, "Why hast thou not prepared the dough i^lcish
nid khabczt e/'aj'tn) ?" " I have come back without the bread," she replied.
" It is because the Tannur is overflowing," cried Noah. " Thou thyself hast
said it," the girl at once replied, thus escaping his terrible threat. Noah then
.sent for a vessel {s'fmeh), went on board it with all the inhabitants of the town,

* Memoirs, II, 444.

t We should perhaps take this circumstance into account in dealing with the problems of
the identity of Capernaum and of Kinnercth.

X This meaning of the verb , ^ appears to me to follow from that of the derived substantive

taff, "over-full, of a pot brimming over." The geminate root faff, on the other hand, seems to me
to be closely related to the hollow root tdf, by reason of the equivalence which is so frequently
noticed in Semitic languages between a short vowel followed by a double consonant, and a long
vowel followed by a single consonant. In this way the root would be connected with the word
tiifihi, the usual Arabic word for "the flood," which is evidently pointed to in this legend.
This word tufan is borrowed directly from the Aramaic tophana, " flood," and the very same

meaning which I attribute to the verb 1 ic is also found, it seems to me, in the Aramaic tjBu,

"to fill a measure up to the brim."

238 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.

and sailed away, passing by Ramleh. In the latter town there was an old
woman whom he had promised to take with him in the vessel, but he forgot
all about her. The water submerged the whole country round, except the
mosque of Jame' el Abiadh at Ramleh, where the old woman had taken refuge.
Noah came back to see what had become of her, and asked her what had
happened to her. " I stayed there quite quietly," she replied, " and saw
neither flood nor water."

Everyone knows what an important part is played in the Koran and its
commentators by the Tanniir. This oven, from which the water of the flood
was supposed to gush forth, was according to tradition the one where Eve
baked her bread, and had been handed down through the ages from one
patriarch's wife to another until the time of Noah. This belief appears to have
attained great popularity in Palestine and all over Syria, for we come across a
considerable number of places called 'Ain Tannur or 'Ain et Tannur: as near
'Ain bent Nuh (" the spring of the daughter of Noah"), in the neighbourhood
of 'Allar es Sifla {see Appendix) ; a little to the north-east of Deir Estia ; near
'Ain Feshkha, in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea ; a little way south-east
of Zubkin ; near Riblah, close to the Orontes, etc., etc. Compare further the
Tannur Eiyub, or Tannur of Job, a small spring near the supposed site of
Capernaum,"" and also the place-name Tannurin, to the north of Beyrout.t I
think that this legend, which has attached itself to various springs, probably
of a particular sort (those that bubble up violently from underground), has Its
basis In a very old Syrian religious tradition, traces of which are still discover-
able in the Rabbinical traditions about the holy rock of Jerusalem. This
Arabic word tannur, which, by-the-bye, Is an old Aramaic word, "ll^n, as to
the origin and various meanings of which a good deal might be said, is a
counterpart of the famous yaaixa /xe'ya that was pointed out at Mabug
(Hierapolis), where the water of Deucalion and Pyrrha's flood Issued and
returned. This Idea was very widely spread among the Greeks themselves,
who were wont to show the ^da-jjiaTa of the Deluge at several of their
sanctuaries, as at Delos and Athens, and In Samothrace. It would be very
interesting to trace out the develoj^ment of the idea, and look for Its starting
point, but that would take me much too far out of my way. I shall treat of this

* Robinson, Zafer Biblical Researches, p. 345. It will be noticed that, by a coincidence
which perhaps is not mere chance, there exists not far from the Tannur Eiyub a Kh. Abu
SMsheh, which two characteristic names are grouped together at Tell el Jezer.

t Ibid., p. 601, 602.

Gezer.

239

question on another occasion, as also that of the curious legend of the so called
Daughter of Noah, in whom we may discover an ancient mythical character."
Returning to our local researches, it may well be asked why Arab
tradition thus tends to group all these naive legends, drawn from the story of
Noah and the Flood, around Tell el Jezer. Despite their well-nigh childish
nature, I do not think them unimportant. They must have their raison
dctre. I am inclined to believe that it was the actual name of Gezer that
gave rise to them. Regarded in this aspect, they furnish us with a fresh
indirect argument in favour of our identification, for they show that this name
really did at that time belong to the ancient city that flourished there. What
has been the process ? In the name 1W, ^ j^,-, folk-lore has thought it could
recognize the Arabic word jazar, " reflux, tide going out, sea, part of the
shore left uncovered by the sea," a word very closely related to "Jezireh,"
" island." The Hebrew root itself has given rise to derivatives of similar
meaning: 1W, "partes maris discissi":t cf. rriy,: " desert, waste, isolated land,"
which has every appearance of being the prototype of 'ij\:>-. It is easy to
understand that tradition, once set going on this track, and keeping in view
the meaning which it ascribed (whether rightly or wrongly it matters little) to
the old name of Gezer, was carried along in the direction we have noticed it
taking.

VII.— Bezka.

In reconnoitring the country north-east of Gezer, I extended my
operations as far as Bezka. I was the more eager to make a fresh inspection
of the ruins, which I had hurriedly looked over on the occasion of my first
visit,J as I had been struck by the resemblance between the name and that of
Bezek, the residence of the Canaanite kine Adoni-Bezek, " the lord of
Bezek." This time I discovered there a very curious tomb, consisting of a
sort of large sarcophagus, hollowed out of the living rock and projecting
above the level of the ground, with a groove round the edge to fit the
lid into. The front side was ornamented with carvings. They were
greatly mutilated, but I thought I could make out what appeared to be two
quadrangular altars within a rectangular border, each surmounted by a cippus.

* I will content myself for the present with adding that this daughter of Noah, sometimes
regarded as his wife, formerly enjoyed great popularity in Syria. Cf. the famous coins of
Apamaeus of Phrygia, which represent the ark with Noah and his wife.

t Psalm cxxxvi, 13. I Cf. supra, p 83.

240 Archaological Researches in Palestine.

and a sort of garland displayed at the top of them. The provisional sketch
that I took is too crude to be reproduced by engraving. It was my intention
to return to the spot and have a good drawing of the object made by M.
Lecomte, but unfortunately the incident which cut short my exploration of
Gezer did not allow of this. I give the bearings of this tomb, which will
perhaps enable future explorers to find it more easily : Abu Shiisheh, 249° ;
a tree conspicuous on the horizon, 5°.

VIII. — Gezer before the Captivity.

Gezer is one of the most ancient towns in Palestine ; it was in existence
previous to the appearance of the Israelites. The testimony of the Bible on
this point appears to be expressly confirmed by the find at Tell el Amarna, as
the name of Gezer has been noticed several times on the cuneiform tablets
discovered there. For instance :* " the town of Gezer, the servant of the
king my master." It is mentioned on the tablets along with other towns with
more or less doubtful names, Tumurka, Manhatesum, Rubute, etc. Now that
we have material proof that Abu Shusheh represents Gezer, it would be very
desirable that deep and methodical excavations should be undertaken there,
since one is henceforth sure of being on the real site of an old pre-Israelite
city, and that too under conditions of certainty that are exceptional, and may
even be said to be hitherto unparalleled in Palestine.

The first time that Gezer appears in the Bible is in the episode of the
Book of Joshua that narrates the victorious campaign of Joshua against the
six confederate Amorite kings of Jerusalem, Hebron, Yarmuth, Lachish, and
Eglon. Joshua goes up against them from the environs of Jericho (Gilgal),
defeats them near Gabaon, pursues them by the road of the mountain of
Beth Horon even unto Azekah and Makkedah. Here comes in the account of
the sun made to stand still at Joshua's prayer. The five vanquished kings
take refuge in a cave at Makkedah ; Joshua fetches them out and hangs
them. After this he takes possession of the town of Makkedah and the town
of Lachish ; "Then Horam, king of Gezer, came up to help Lachish, and
Joshua smote him and his people, in such wise that he let none escape."
(Joshua X, 33.)

Later on (xii, 12) Gezer reappears in the list of the thirty-one kings of
the country {rnalke ha-areg) beaten by the Bene Israel, kings belonging to

* Meinoires publies par ks membres de la mission archeologiqiie fran^aise au Caire, vi, 2, p. 299
(an article by Father Scheil).

Gezer.

241

the people of the Hittites (Hitti), the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizites,
the Hivites (Hiwi), and the Jetpusites. Gezer was therefore one of those
ancient royal cities (Canaanitish, as we shall see) that had their own melek,
and were numerous before the arrival of the Hebrews in the Promised Land.

Gezer again appears once more in the Book of Joshua in chapter xvi, 3.

This time more precise topographical data are given, which is fortunate, for

no argument can be drawn from the names of towns linked with that of Gezer

in the preceding passage, as the list does not appear to be arranged in a

strict geographical order. The writer is speaking of the territory assigned to

the tribe of Ephraim on the occasion of the division of the conquered country

among the twelve tribes ot Israel. He describes the southern frontier of the

territory as beginning at the Jordan near Jericho and striking out westwards,

ihat is to say towards the Mediterranean, passing by Bethel, Luz, and

Ataroth ; and he says, "it goeth down westward to the coast of Japhleti,

unto the coast of Beth Horon the nether, and to Gezer, and the goings out

thereof are at the sea."

It may be as well to contrast this passage with the one in Josephus i^Ant.
Jud., V, I, 22), where he describes summarily, but most exactly, the territory of
Ephraim : — this territory extended in breadth (evpelav) from south to north —
that is to say, from Bethel to the great plain, and in length {jx-qKovo^ivriv),
from east to west, from the Jordan to Gadara {a^pi raSdpcou anh 'lophdvov
noTafjiov). There can be no doubt as to the identity of Gadara, or rather
Gazara, with Gezer, in spite of the changes in transcription. We shall find
several times the name Gezer in Greek authorities rendered Gadara, though
it is ordinarily transcribed VaXja.pa., Fa^ep, Fe^ep. In fact, it was this that at a
later period led Strabo to confuse Gezer with Gadara, the capital of Pera;a
on the east of Jordan. As to the plural form of the word it is perfectly easy
of explanation, it originated from the transcriptions Va^dpa, FaSdpa, which
have the Greek feminine singular termination. This termination in course of
time gave the name the appearance of a neuter plural, ra Vdi^apa, instead of
■17 Val,dpa. The same transformation has taken place, as we shall see, in the
incidents in the book of Maccabees in which Gezer plays a part. This
confusion has likewise arisen under the same conditions in the case of other
names of towns. It is in this way, for instance, that the name of the Moabite
town Medaba, i^nT'C transcribed MrjSa/Sa, becomes ttoXi? "Sl-q^dfiiDv ,*
TO. MijSaySa.

* Confirmed by a Greek Christian inscription (on a mosaic) found at Madcba itself

2 I

242

Archceolooiccil Researches in Palestine.

Thus it follows clearly from the above passages that Gezer must have
been situated to the west of Beth-Horon the Nether and at no great distance
from it, and it is the more important to have fixed its identity, as it marked
the western extremity of the southern boundary of the territory of Ephraim.

We again encounter Gezer in Joshua xxi, 21, as one of the Levite
towns, that is to say, the forty-eight towns assigned by Joshua to the
Levites, together with their suburbs {>)iigrasli), in the territories of the
different tribes of Israel. The territory of Ephraim, contained four of these
towns, among them being Gezer. We thus learn that Gezer not only marked
the limit of the territory ot Ephraim but actually formed part of that territory.
This view, moreover, is also explicitly confirmed by Joshua xvi, 10, and
Judges i, 29.

Joshua xvi, 10, gives a piece of information doubly interesting for us,
since it shows that the primitive population of Gezer had not been destroyed
by Joshua after the defeat of its king Horam, but simply laid under tribute,
and that this population was of Canaanitish origin. This latter fact is like-
wise confirmed by Judges i, 29. The Ephraimites became mingled with the
old Canaanitish population of Gezer. There is then every likelihood that by
making excavations at Abu Shusheh, a genuine Canaanitish stratum would
be reached. The art and religion of the Canaanites is perhaps responsible
for the rude terra-cotta figure that I spoke of above (p. 6). I am able to give

here a faithful reproduction of this, having at last
found the cast of it that I made but afterwards mislaid.
We shall see however that the Philistines appear
to have occupied Gezer for a certain period as well.

Gezer is further alluded to in other books of the
P)ible, but in these more light is thrown on its historic
importance than on its location. However, no element
in the problem we have to solve should be passed over.
Gezer j^lays an important part in the history of
David (2 Sam. v). Upon the news of the taking of
Jerusalem by David and his being crowned King of
all Israel, the Philistines, hereditary enemies of Israel,
go up against him, and are beaten successively at two
places difficult to locate precisely (the valley ot
Rephaim and Baal-perazim). They must however have
certainly been in the direction of Jerusalem, and even in its immediate neigh-
bourhood. " And David did so as the Lord had commanded him, and smote

TERRA-COTTA I-UaiRF. FOUND
AT ABU SHUSHEH.

Gezer. 243

the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gezer" (v. 25). The same
incident is related in pretty much the same terms in i Chron. xiv, 16. One
fact at any rate, and that a very interesting one, seems to follow clearly from
this passage, namely that Gezer, the furthest point to which David extended
his pursuit, must have been well on the way to the Philistines' country,
perhaps even formed part of it at that period. Josephus gives us to understand
as much in narrating the same event after his manner (^Aiit. Jud., vii, 4, i).
David, having beaten the Philistines, pursued them to the town of Gazara
{p-Xpi. TToXeo)^ ra^dpcDv), zvhiclt marks the eastern extremity of tlicir territory
(rj 8e iaiLv opos avTwv rrj'; ^copas). We shall see in a moment that he
exjjresses himself elsewhere even more definitely on this point.

It may very well be that this affair is again alluded to in two parallel
passages (A and B) in the second book of Samuel (xxi, 18, 19) and in
I Chronicles (xx, 4, 5). There is a very curious variation between these,
they look as if they had been extracted from some old chronicle now lost, and
had been copied differently in the two recensions that have come down to us.

A, 18. "And it came to pass after this that there was again a battle with
the Philistines at G06, then Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Saph, which was
of the sons of Rapha."

19. " And there was again a battle in God with the Philistines, where
Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a Beth-lehemite, slew Goliath the
Gittite, etc."

This town God, Gob (I'Jl, IIJ) is absolutely unknown. Comparison with
the parallel passage B" seems to prove that this name is nothing but a
modification of Gezer, which is found in this passage letter for letter.t The
text of Chronicles is doubtless the right one, and the original form "lU has
become 11^, through a wrong reading which can easily be accounted for by
the Hebrew palaeographer. Josephus in his turn is of this opinion in his
account of the same occurrence [Ant. Jud., vii, 12, 2).|

Gezer plays an important part in the history of Solomon (i Kings, ix,

* I am inclined to think that the verb ij;33M at the end of the verse in i Chron. xx, 4,
contains a play on words having reference to the name of the Canaanitcs : " they were abased "
or "treated like Canaanites." It is to be borne in mind that a Canaanitish population had been
maintained at Gezer.

t I Chron. xx, 5 corresponds to 2 Sam. xxi, 19, and relates the same feat of arms with some
curious variations that do not concern me here, but this time it gives no place-name.

\ Note that Josephus this time gives the correct transcription Vii'C,iijinv, in the fern, sing., and
not neut. plur.

2 I 2

244 ArchcFological Researches in Palestine.

15, etc). The Pharaoh of Egypt had conducted an expedition against Gezer,
had taken the town, and had burnt it, after having exterminated the
Canaanites who dwelt there. He gave the town he had destroyed as a dowry
to his daughter, the wife, or rather one of the wives of Solomon. The latter
rebuilt the demolished city, by which he appeared to set a particular store.
Unfortunately we do not know either the name of this Pharaoh or the
historical events — some revolt perhaps — which led to his making this
expedition into the south of Palestine and destroying Gezer. According to
the Bible the expedition appears to have been directed against the Canaanitish
element, but it may be that the Philistines counted for something in this
enterprise of Pharaoh's, since Gezer, as I have already said, and will proceed
to prove, belonged at that time to the country of the Philistines, that is to say,
a population that had been long feudatory to Egypt. In the parallel account
in Josephus {^Ant. Jud., viii, 6, i), Gazara, one of the towns rebuilt by
Solomon, is specifically mentioned as belonging to Philistia : ttjv Tpir-qv Se
Fa^apa, t^;/ ttj? ITaXatcrTtVwv )(wpas vndp^ov(Tav. We had already arrived at
this conclusion by inductions based on another passage in Josephus and on
certain indications given in the Bible itself It may therefore very well be
that at a certain period Gezer, which, as we shall see, is less than six miles to
the east of Ekron, belonged to the Philistines, and served as a sort of advanced
bulwark against Israel.

IX. — Gezer under the Hasmon.^iANs.

We have to proceed as far as the Hasmoneean period before we find
Gezer reappearing in history. It plays one of the most important parts in the
long wars kept up by the Jews against the Seleucids, and narrated in the
books of Maccabees and the parallel accounts of Josephus. In order to grasp
the full value of this testimony, which contains more than one precious bit of
topographical information, we must not lose sight of one most essential point
— the centre of the struggles of the early Hasmon^eans against the Greco-
Syrian armies was the town of Modin, the place of origin of the Hasmoneean
family, and consequently the region of el Midieh.

The first incident in which Gezer figures is the battle between Judas and
Gorgias (i Mace, iv). The Syrian general had taken up his position at
Emmaus ('Amwas). Judas, who had retired to the south of that town, takes
the offensive, and utterly defeats the army of the enemy, who leave the field
in complete disorder, pursued by the victorious Jews as far as Gazera and the

Gezer. 245

plains of Iduma;a, Azotus, and Jamneia. Consequently Gezer must have been
situated on one of the two lines of retreat, between Emmaus and the sea. In
the expression ew? Va.'Qripuiv (v. 15) it should be noted that the feminine form
of the name of Gezer when transliterated into Greek is yet treated as a neuter
plural. The Latin version has made the error worse by taking this genitive
plural form for a real proper name, and servilely translating usque Gezeron.

A second episode, where Gezer again figures, is the battle between Judas
and the Syrian general Nicanor, whom the former had previously defeated at
Capharsalama"" (i Mace, vii, 39, 40). Nicanor is defeated and killed in the
battle. He had taken up his position at Bethoron, whilst Judas occupied
Adasa (30 stadia from Bethoron, according to Josephus).t The defeated
army is pursued from Adasa to Gazera (v, 45) during a whole day, which
does not necessarily imply the length of a day's march under ordinary cir-
cumstances.

Later on Gezer is mentioned among the towns which Bacchides, after
his defeat on the banks of Jordan, orders to be fortified (i Mace, ix, 52.
Cf. Josephus, Ant.Jnd., xiii, i, 3).

These various passages seem to imply that Gezer was an important
strategical point, always remained in the hands of the Greco-Syrians, and
that the latter managed to make it a refuge in case of a check, since on two
occasions it is indicated as one of the points where the pursuit of the victorious
Jews came to an end.

The last passage shows us that up to the year 160 of the Seleucids, the
Jews had not yet succeeded in getting possession of Gezer. Now a few years
later we notice that it has passed into their hands: "And Simon saw that
John his son was a valiant man, and he gave him the command of all the
military forces, and he dwelt at Gazara (eV Vatfxpoii)" [i Mac. xiii, 53]. The
sentence is somewhat ambiguous. Was it John or Simon himself that took
up his abode at Gezer .'' The point is of little importance, but what is certain
is that Gezer must in the meanwhile have been retaken by the Jews.

The conquest of a city like this by the Jews was an event of considerable
importance, so that it seems odd that no mention is made of it in the book of
Maccabees between ch. ix and ch. xiii. Upon nearer investigation of the
text this singularity vanishes. In reality the siege and capture of Gezer by

* To the north of Lydda. For the site of Capharsalama, see i7ifra, Ch. VI.
t Ant. Jud.,yM, 10, 5. Here again Josephus takes 'Afa<7a for a neuter plural, iv 'Araao7
See (p. 76) my remarks on the position of Adasa.

246 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

the Jews are related at length hi this same chapter (xiii, 43-48), immediately
before the passage that speaks of the residence of Simon or John at Gezer ;
only by a copyist's error the name of Gezer {Gazara) has become Gaza. It
was long believed that this passage referred to the celebrated town of Gaza,
but it is easy to show that for various reasons there could be no allusion here
to the town of Gaza, and that the correction from Va.tp.v to Vatp-pav is entirely
warrantable. The narrative will repay a close examination, for it contains
certain details which will be of the greatest interest to us, and may even throw
some light on the interpretation of our inscriptions, if they really ought, as I
doubt not, to be referred to Gezer.

Here are the facts. About the year 143 b.c, the date of the definite
liberation of Israel from the Seleucid yoke, and the starting-point,
moreover, of the Jewish national era, Simon came and laid siege to the
so-called Gaza, with a large park of artillery. After having effected a
breach, he took the town by assault. He spared the lives of the inhabitants,
but drove them out of the town, while he himself made his entry there,
singing the holy hymns. He purified the places polluted by the idols, cast out
all the pollutions of the town, and placed stich men there as zvould keep the
law {oijiv^'i Tov vo/xov ttolov(tl), and fortified it and built there a residence for
himself (v, 48).'''

This town certainly cannot have been Gaza, as appears from the following
facts. In ch. xiv of Book i of Maccabees it is stated that the land of Judah
remained in peace all the days of Simon, and a list of his conquests is given —
Joppa, Gazara, Baithsura and Acra. He had therefore made himself master
(eKuptevcre) of Gazara. If he had likewise gained possession of Gaza, as above
narrated, how could such a conquest have been passed over without mention
in a recapitulatory sketch of the services rendered by Simon to the Jewish
cause ? Now, as will be seen, not Gaza, but on the contrary Gazara is the
place in question.

There is a similar argument, even more decisive, to be derived from the
same chapter (27-34), fo"" here we are dealing with an official document, a
long honorific inscription, a regular decree of the people of Israel passed in

* This latter detail appears to settle the question that arose just now in connection with
V, 53. But John, son of Simon, being appointed generalissimo of the army, might very well have
his headquarters at Gezer also, since the town was situated in a position of strategic importance
and in the dangerous zone that was exposed to the first attacks of the enemy. On this point see
the details which will be given later on, clearly showing that John was residing at Gazara at the
time of his father's murder.

Gezer. 247

the general assembly at Jerusalem, exhibited, inscribed on brazen tables, in
the peribolos of the Temple, and preserved in duplicate in the archives of the
public treasury. It is an official eulogy of Simon and a narration of the
services rendered by him to Israel: "and he fortified the town of Gazara,*
which is situated upon the borders of Azotus (ji]v IttXtuiv opioiv 'A^wrou), and had
previously been occupied by the enemy ; and he caused the Jews to dwell
there and furnished them with all that was needed to establish them on a
satisfactory footing." Here again is no whisper of Gaza, but, on the other
hand the details given concerning Gazara, as to the means adopted by Simon
to establish the Jewish population there, are in marvellous accordance with
those related of the so-called Gaza in chapter xiii, 43-48.

By comparison of these different passages with those in Josephus [Ant.
Jitd., xiii, 6, 7, and Bc/l. Jnd., i, 2, 2), we arrive at one and the same
conclusion, the Jewish historian expressly states Simon seized Gazara, and
nowhere does he breathe a word of Gaza.

Later (i Mace, xv, 28) we find King Antiochus sending to Simon his
ambassador Athenobios to summon the Jewish prince to give up to him
Joppa, Gazara, and the Acra of Jerusalem, which the latter had forcibly
seized (/caTa/cpaTeiTe), or rather to pay him by way of compensation an
indemnity of a thousand talents of silver. Simon replies that he has not
taken another's goods, that he has merely recovered the inheritance of his
fathers, and he adds (35), "As for Joppa and Gazara which thou claimest, and
which have done great wrongs to the people in our land, we will give in
exchange for them a hundred talents." Here again in the claims of Antiochus
and the answer of Simon, Gazara and not Gaza is mentioned. If Simon had
really seized Gaza, one of the most important towns in the kingdom of the
Seleucids, Antiochus would certainly not have failed to include it in his
demands, he ought even, logically, to have put it at the head of his claims, as
beinof the gfreatest grievance he could have against the Jews.

Lastly, there is one more argument, an historical one, which proves up to
the hilt that all the interesting details of the siege, capture, and Judaization
of Gaza by Simon, ought properly to apply to Gazara, or, to put it in another
way, to Gezer. It is that it was at a much later date, in 98 B.C., under the
Jewish king Alexander Janneus, that the town of Gaza fell finally into the

* It should be remarked that the name uf the town is correctly rendered by the feminine
singular, ^<\v rufo/m, indeclinable, and not as is generally formed by the neuter plural. This small
fact seems enough to indicate that the text is really borrowed from an authentic official document.

248 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

hands of the Jews, after a memorable siege that lasted no less than a
year.*

However, Antiochus, irritated by the reply of Simon, had ordered his
general Kendebseos to advance upon Judaea, making the base of his operations
the town of Kedron or Kedro,t in the region of Jamneia (v, 39-41). John
then came up from Gazara — which fact, we may stop to remark, is sufficient
proof that he resided in that town, as I have said, — to warn his father Simon
of the approach of the enemy (xvi, i). This passage at the same time shows
that Gazara cannot have been far distant from Jamneia (Yebna) and from
Kedron [Katrah), and that it was exposed in consequence to the first attack of
Kendebaeos. The latter place may likely enough have been the chief object
of his efforts in this fresh campaign. Kendebaeos was beaten and driven
back to Azotus by the Jewish army, which issued from the neigbourhood of
Modin (v, 4-10). '

It was at Gazara, again, that John was residing at the time when he
heard of the death of his father Simon, who had been caught in an ambuscade
and murdered in the fortress of Dok, near Jericho, by his son-in-law, Ptolemy,
son of Abubos, the governor of that town. At Gazara also he was warned
of the arrival of emissaries entrusted with his own assassination. Quite
evidently, Gazara was his headquarters.

The Second Book of Maccabees would seem at first sight to contain a
passage of extreme interest concerning our town of Gazara (x, 32-37). But
comparison with the First Book of Maccabees (v, 6-8), and the corresponding
narrative in Josephus, will suffice to show that it is not Gezer at all that is
referred to, but Jazer-, a quite different place, beyond Jordan, and that the
names of the two places have got mixed. Ta^dpa is a copyist's error for
la[,apa,l '^^ '}^^^ before Td^a was an error of the same sort for Td(,apa. This
element then must simply be eliminated from the problem.

On the other hand Gezer is certainly the place referred to in a document
of rare interest that has been preserved for us by Josephus. About the year
130 before our era, John Hyrcanus, son and successor of Simon, faithful to

* Josephus, Ant. Jud., xiii, 13, 3, and Bcll./ud., i, 4, 2. Gaza remained in the possession
of the Jews until the time of Ponipey, who took it from them.

t The identityof Kedron or Kedro with the modern Katiali, a httle south-east of Yamneia,
has long been admitted.

X Josephus gives the vocalisation 'lag'tt'/jo,-; the First Book of Maccabees has 'loTv/' (variant
'IniTiyi'). This of course is the Ammonite town Ja'ezzer, transliterated in the Septuagint 'I'/iT'}/''
The Oncmastkon renders it by 'Afny) at 'IniTv/'.

Gezer. 249

the Hasmonsean tradition, sent an embassy to Rome to draw tighter the bonds
of an almost immemorial alliance, and one that the Romans also found to their
profit, for it aided certain political views which were afterwards to be realised
by the reduction of Syria to a Roman province. Jews and Romans at that
time had interests in common, and were pursuing, by widely different means,
the same purpose, namely the struggle against the power of the Seleucid
kings. Josephus {Ant. Jiid., xiii, 9, 2) gives us the names of the members
of the Jewish commission, and the actual text of the decision of the Senate in
reply to the letters of Hyrcanus conveyed by his envoys. In these letters
Hyrcanus asked the Senate, among other things, to convey to Antiochus an
order to give back to him Joppa and its ports, Gazara and its springs (/cat
Tdt,apa koX TT-qydi), as well as all the tov/ns and all the territories which the
latter had seized by armed force, despite the decree of the Senate. We see
from this, that in consequence of events unknown to us, Joppa and Gezer had
fallen again into the hands of Antiochus. We ascertain, moreover, one
precious detail of topography, on which I lay great stress, as it assists in
confirming the identification of Gezer. It is that this town had considerable
and well-known springs. These springs we find again near Abu Shusheh,
firstly in the magnificent spring of 'Ain Yardeh, next in two, one of them now
dried up, the other less important, 'Ain et-Tannur and 'Ain el-Botmeh. The
abundance of water in this district is moreover borne witness to by the
existence of the ancient aqueduct, Kanat Bint el Kafer, which, starting
from Tell el Jezer, conveyed it as far as the neighbourhood of Ramleh, and
perhaps beyond that to Lydda.

X. — Gezer in Strabo and the Onomasticon.

To complete the ancient testimonies concerning Gezer, it remains still to
examine two of unequal value.

The first, on which I shall not lay any great stress, is furnished by
Strabo.'' In describing the coast of Judcea, from Joppa to Mount Cassius, on
the Egyptian frontier, he mentions after Joppa and before Azotus and Ascalon,
the town of Gadaris, as having been appropriated by the Jews. Although

* Strabo, ed. Didot, p. 646, 16.

^50 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

Strabo, to judge by the historical details* that he furnishes, appears to have
confused this Gadaris with Gadara,t the capital of Pera;a, it is tolerably-
evident that he is referring to our town Gezer, and that it is to this latter, in
any case, that his geographical information relates.

The second testimony is, or looks as if it ought to be, decisive in
solving the problem. It is furnished by the Onomasticon, and in view of
its importance I reproduce it in its entirety. Eusebius expresses himself
as follows : —

Tal,ip, Kkrjpov ^(^pdCp,, Aeutrats a<f>Q)picriJi.€vrj, koI TavTrjv iTToXiopKYjcrev
'lijcrovs TOf /SacrtXea avTrj9 aveXcov' rjv koX coKoh6p.rj<j€. XaXop-cov' Kal vvv KaXetrat
Tal^dpa Kcjpiy] ^ LKonoXecj'; airi-^ova'a cnqp-uois S' €v ySopetoi?. Ou jxy]v aveiXev ef
avTrj? Toi'S dkXo(f>v\ov<; tj (f)v\rj 'E^pat/A.

This St. Jerome renders : —

Gazer, in sorte tribus Ephraim, urbs separata Levitis ; quam et ipsam
expugnavit Jesus rege illius interfecto. Aedificata est autem postea a
Salomone ; nunc Gazara villa dicitur in quarto milliario Nicopoleos contra
septentrionem. Verumtamen sciendum, quod alienigenas ex ea Ephraim non
potuit expellere.J

This is categorical enough. As the position of Nicopolis Emmaus, now
'Amwas, is perfectly well known on the one hand, and on the other the village
of Gazara, is placed by the Onomasticon at four miles north of Nicopolis, it
seems that nothing could be easier than to discover, at its site, the village
which to Eusebius and St. Jerome represented the ancient Gezer. The
unfortunate part of it is that there is nothing on the spot corresponding to the
data. After having long exhausted themselves in attempts at verification,
commentators and topographers had ended by regarding the problem as
insoluble, or by proposing inadmissible solutions, which I will not stop to
discuss, such as identifying Gezer with Yazur, to the east of Jaffa, making
the old Canaanitish Gezer and the Hasmonaean Gazara into two different
towns (Yazur and Katra), assimilating Gezer with Geshur in the tribe of
Manasseh, and so on.

It was, however, the more difficult to call in question the authority of the
Onomasticon, as the Gazara mentioned in it seems to have prolonged its

* Of more or less celebrated persons who came from Gadara.

t We have already seen that even Josephus himself sometimes gives Gezer the name of
Gadara, for Gazara.

X Cf. S.V., Tt'^ijpa, Gazcra, with a cross-reference to the article Te^t'/j (sic) and Gazera,, Gazara.

Gezer. 251

existence well into the Byzantine period, under the name of Gadara, the seat
of a bishopric in the province of Palsestina P.*

It is as well to note this point in passing, as it suffices to explain the
existence at Tell el Jezer "of an early Christian or Byzantine work," which
some have thought to detect there by certain archaeological indications, and
which has been most wrongly adduced as an argument against the great
antiquity which I had assigned to the site.t

XI. — Gezer in Arab tradition.

Such was the condition of the problem up to 1871, when I was led to
propose a solution, which I have every reason to believe a permanent one,
by introducing into it a new factor, and I may say an unexpected one, since I
borrowed it from a quite different and much more recent source, which no one
had thought of using. This solution is based on a datum absolutely
independent of all those we have discussed. These latter, in spite of their
value and all the efforts made to utilize them, were insufficient by themselves
to lead to it. It had the advantage of satisfying every term in the problem,
without exception, and was destined moreover to receive a few years later a
brilliant confirmation, in the discovery, on the very spot I had pointed out,
of inscriptions containing at full length the Hebrew name of the much-
sought-for city !

While reading in 1869 for the first time the Arabic chronicle of Mujir ed
Din, often .so dry and tiresome, I lit upon a pas.sage which was to me as a ray
of light. It occurs at p. 702 of the Arabic text printed at Bulak. Mujir ed
Din there narrates to us in very great detail an incident of quite second-rate
interest by itself, which took place in the neighbourhood of Ramleh on the
1 2th of March; 1495. The author, then a cadi at Jerusalem, had been well-
nigh an eye-witness of the occurrence.

He is speaking of the bloody encounter between the emir Janbulat,
Governor of Jerusalem, and his lieutenant at Ramleh, "on the one hand, and on
the other a troop of Bedouin who had come to make a razzia on the territory
of Ramleh, at the secret instigation of the Governor of Gaza, who had a

* This fact has been long admitted, but has been recently disputed by Herr Schlatter, who,
repeating the error of Strabo, thinks that the place in question is the Gadara beyond Jordan in
Palrestina IP. However, Herr Gelzer seems to me to have met his objections conclusively.
(See Zeitschrift des dcutschen Falceslina-Vereins, 1894, p. 36, eU. Cf. Georgii Cyprii descriptio
orbis Ro7nani, pp. 52, 191.)

t Memoirs, Vol. H, 431, 432. Cf. pp. 433, 434, 436.

2 K 2

252 Archc^ological Researches in Palestine.

hostile feeling towards his colleague at Jerusalem. The territory of Ramleh
was, and still is at the present day, separated from that of Gaza by the course of
the little river called in its lower waters Nahr Rubin, and in its higher course,
Wady Katra and Wad es Serar. The Kashef or under-Governor of Ramleh,
at the command of his superior, the Governor of Jerusalem, who had gone
in person to Ramleh, leaves the latter town to make a tour in the district and
stop the depredations of the Bedouin who were marauding there. He
advances in a southerly direction from Ramleh towards the village of
Ni'aneh, which exists under the same name at the present day. He reaches
the southern frontier of the district and meets a party of Bedouin, whom he
chases as far as the territory of 'Amuria, a village now in ruins and equally
well known, belonging to the territory of Gaza, to the south of the Wad es
Serar. Here the Bedouin face about, resume the offensive, and in their turn
pursue the Kashef, who falls back In the direction of the village of Khulda and
the village of Tell el Jezer ( ,-^1 Jj- ajy), both belonging— the writer expressly
mentions — to the territory of Ramleh.

The Kashef, seeing that he is at a disadvantage, entrenches himself in
a borj, a little fort, then existing at Khulda, and here an obstinate struggle
takes place between his men and the Bedouin. The latter get the upper
hand. Meanwhile the Governor of Jerusalem, who had left Ramleh a litde
while after his subordinate to execute, on his own part, a reconnaissance,
having arrived at the village of Tell el Jezer, hears in that place the cries of
the combatants hotly engaged in mortal conflict at Khulda. He hastens to the
rescue, guided by the cries (ej^l ^^j) to bring off his men, but is himself beaten
and his small escort slaughtered, and hardly manages to escape with his own life.

The latter phase of the affair must have taken place between Khulda and
the village of Tell el Jezer, and quite close to the latter, for Mujir ed Din
adds that the authorities commfssioned later on to make an inquiry into the
affray, and to fix responsibility in the proper quarters,* proceeded first of all
to Tell el Jezer, and noted that several of the men who had been massacred,
some ten in number, were lying on the territory of the village (l^^^b).

All the place-names that appear in this recital are still in existence in the
locality, and were marked on Van de Velde's map, the only authoritative one
then existing, except the name of the village of Tell el Jezer, the only one which
was missing. I had been greatly struck by the perfect similarity which this

In this inquiry Mujir ed Din took a personal part in his capacity of cadi.

Gezer. 253

name presents to that of the undiscoverable Gezer, and immediately proceeded
to argue an actual identity from the onomastic identity, and though as yet
unable to fix definitely the position of the place, I noted that the district re-
ferred to by Mujir ed Din would agree marvellously well with what we know
from ancient geography of the site of Gezer. What had to be done was to dis-
cover the position of this village, which, though not marked on the maps, was
still in existence nearly four centuries ago under a name that was a revelation.

The statement of Mujir ed Din was explicit, and was moreover confirmed
by the testimony of various other Arab authors, as I subsequently ascertained.
Thus the secretary of Saladin, 'Emad ed-din,* tells us that the Mussulmans,
who occupied Jerusalem and the mountain of Juda;a, and were in almost
exactly the same situation as the Jews with regard to the Greco-Syrians
commanded by Kendebseos, directed three cavalry raids against Richard Coeur
de Lion who was quartered at Ascalon. In order to surprise the Franks
at Yebna early in the morning, they went to Tell el Jezzr to pass the night.

The historian Beha ed din,t also in Saladin's service, relates that in
November, 1191, negotiations were begun (destined never to come to fruit)
between Richard and Saladin, who was then encamped at Tell el Jezcr.

A third Arab testimony is that of the celebrated geographer Yak<at,;j;
who puts down Tell el Jezer as "a strong place in the province of Filastin,"
that is to say, in the province of Ramleh. As his custom is, he is careful to
vocalise the name letter by letter, which is a guarantee for the pronounciation
Jazar with two fat has.

Thus there is no doubt as to the existence of a village of the name of
Tell el Jezer not only in the 15th, but even in the 12th century of our era.
It remained then to discover it in its place, and to see whether it really was
built upon an ancient site, and whether this site answers all requirements.

It was only in the course of the year 1871 that it was possible for me to
proceed with this verification on the spot. I shall relate further on (see
Appendix) how I managed, not without trouble, to satisfy myself that Tell

* El-fath el Kossy, MS. in the Bibliotheque Nationale, No. 839, ancien fonds arabe, fol. 171.
Cf. Arabic text, edited by Landberg, p. 419.

t Historieiis Orientaux des Croisades, III, 291-292. Willten, and Stubbs, the editor of the
Itinernrium Ricardi, led astray by the odd transliteration of Schultens {Te/al-Sjusur), wrongly
imagined that this name stood for the Arabic .. „U J.; " The Hill of the Bridge," as Stubbs

writes ; the text has , isJl Jj' letter for letter.
X Mdjem e/-Bulddn, ed. Wiistenfeld, s.v.

2 54 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

el Jezer, which had hitherto bafifled all the commentators, was to be found in
the well-known village of Abu Shusheh, the modern name masking the
ancient one, which however was still living in tradition. I noted there all the
signs that characterise an important city of antiquity, and, referring back to all
the texts discussed above, I convinced myself that Tell el Jezer satisfied all
the conditions contained in them.

I had therefore succeeded in discovering the real site of ancient Gezer,
after having, if I may say so, theoretically fixed it beforehand. On returning
to Europe in 1872,* I read before the Academie des Inscriptions a paper
entituled " Decouverte de la ville royale chananeenne de Gezer," which has
not yet been published. In it I set forth the reasons that led me to propose
the identification of Gezer with Tell el Jezer. This part of my dissertation I
have given in substance in the preceding pages, the other part, relating to the
material operations of the discovery, is given in abbreviated form in the
Appendix.

I had no suspicion then that two years later it was to be my lot to find at
Tell el Jezer itself epigraphical proof establishing my thesis beyond the
possibility of question.

It still remains in my mind how when I had finished reading my paper,
the President of the Academie, the lamented M. Miller, thought it incumbent
on him to make some reservations in speaking of my conclusions, which
appeared to him somewhat daring, saying it was to be regretted that I could
not bring forward some inscription in support of my views, which could only
be regarded, it seemed to him, as mere conjecture, in the absence of further
proof.

This was perhaps a little too exacting, for at this rate which of all
the topographical identifications in Palestine, though seeming most solidly
established, could stand before this excessive scepticism ? We have seen
however that it was not long before this desideratum was supplied in a way
that could not have been hoped for, proving me in the right all along the line,
and also, most valuable of all in my eyes, justifying in a striking fashion the

* I cannot avoid remarking, by the way, were it only to anticipate those claims of prior
discovery which are always possible, that the late lamented Tyrwhitt Drake proposed to identity
Gezer with "Tell Jezar" in the Quarterly Statement of 1872, p. 40. He only omits to mention
one thing, that this identification had been suggested to him by me, together with all the proofs
in support of it, a year before, in the presence of poor Palmer and the late Sir Richard Burton.
The Memoirs do not mention Drake's report, but on the other hand they ascribe to me (p. 439
at the bottom) the paternity of a short notice which really belongs to him.

Cezef'.

255

very method of critical induction employed by me, the same as produced such
grand results in the hands of Robinson and his successors. We are henceforth
warranted in applying this method with greater confidence than ever, for we
see that it is capable of leading us, upon occasion, to results of absolute
certainty.

XII. — Tell el Jezer and the Gazara of the Onomasticon.
The Mount Gisart of the Crusaders.

It would be easy, but too long, to show, by taking one by one the series
of texts above quoted, that Tell el Jezer answers to all, absolutely all, of the
data contained in them. I wish in this place only to touch on one essential
point, which at the same time raises a general question that has an important
bearing on our knowledge of the geography of Palestine, I mean the identity
between Tell el Jezer and the Gazara of the Onomasticon.

The Onomasticon, as we have seen, places Gadara at four miles north of
Nicopolis-Emmaus, at any rate this was the meaning that had always been
attached to the Greek expression eV /Sopetoi?, which St. Jerome renders contra
septentrionein. Now though Tell el Jezer is obviously situated at the requisite
distance from 'Amwas,* the ancient Emmaus-Nicopolis, with all the good will
in the world, one cannot say that it is to the north of that town. In reality it
is at most north-west of it, a difference of 45°, which is a good deal. At the
distance of four Roman miles to the north of 'Amwas we find merely an
unimportant place, Khirbet Rueisun, which cannot in any respect represent
the Gazara of the Onomasticon, still less the Gezer of the Bible. How is one
to explain this serious anomaly which seems either to set aside my identification,
or else to impute a gross mistake to the Onomasticon?

All we have to do is to attend more carefully than is generally done to
this expression eV jSope.ioi<; ; literally translated it means not to the north but
rather in the norths. From this starting point I arrived at the following
most interesting general result, that in his orientations Eusebius constantly
uses the plural form, the norths, the souths, the easts, the wests, when he
wishes to imply a quarter intermediate between the four cardinal points,
corresponding to our north-west, north-east, south-east, and south-west. I

* I will remark eti passant that Tell el Jezer is directly united with 'Amwas by an ancient
road, still marked out by large blocks, among which a diligent search might perhaps reveal one of
the milestones which served as guiding marks to Eusebius and St. Jerome.

256 Archcvological Researches in Palestine.

have picked out in tlic Onoinasiicoii numerous instances of this hitherto
unnoticed fact. I am keeping this question to treat thoroughly at some
future date, when I mean to construct a very curious compass-card for the
Oiioiiias/icoii, in which each expression, in the singuk^r or pkiral, combined
with a judicious use of the prepositions with dehcatcly varying meanings,
77/309, a.7ro, Kara, /xera^u, etc., corresponds to a fi.xed point on the horizon.
This will clear away man)- so called inaccuracies and even errors in orientation
of which the Onomasticoii has been groundlessly accused, and the geographical
data which modern exegesis borrows from that work at every turn, will gain in
precision to a remarkable extent.

To confine myself to the present instance, I have no doubt that we should
render eV /8o/oetoi?, " in the norths," by " to the north-west," and so become
perfectly accurate. If Eusebius had meant " to the north," he would not
have employed the plural, but the singular. Here is one case out of a score.
The Onoviasticoii places Nazareth 1 5 Roman miles in the easts, tt/sos avaToXd^,
from Legio (Lajjun). It would make absolute nonsense to translate to the
east, Eusebius would in that case have used the singular. He means to the
north-east, which is exactly right.

Thus the last doubt that might have lingered on this head disappears.
Tell el Jezer, by its name as well as by its distance from and position with
regard to 'AmwSs, undoubtedly stands for the Gazara of the Onoviasticon.

But is this Gazara really identical with the Gazara of the Hasmona;an
period, and consequently with the Gazara of the ages preceding? Here
aijain was crround for hesitation. Too often the authors of the Ononiasticon
proceed in their geographical exegesis by way of guesses, sometimes very
risky guesses too, just like certain modern scholars, allowing themselves to be
led astray by superficial likenesses in names. Such might be the case here,
and the objection might rightly be made, and was made, to my theory that
if I had discovered at Tell el Jezer the village of Gazara, in which the
Onoviasticon rightly or wrongly saw the Gezer of the Bible, there was nothing
to show that the latter view was correct. The appearance of our inscriptions
is a victorious answer to this objection ; whatever their date may be, they are,
as we shall see, certainly earlier, and that by a long way, than the date when
Eusebius compiled his Onomasticon, and they prove consequently that we are
really on the site of the Hasmoncean Gezer, which, on the other hand, cannot
be distinct from the Gezer of earlier times. Thus we have an uninterrupted
chain of evidence uniting through the ages, in time as well as in space, the
Canaanitish Gezer with the modern Tell el Jezer.

Gezer.

257

There was only wanting in this chain a single link, the media;val link,
that is to say a document bearing witness to the existence of Gezer under
the sway of the Crusaders. This connecting link I have since managed to
discover as I did the others, by demonstrating, in a special memoir,* to which
I can only refer the reader, that Tell el Jezer was known to the Crusaders,
under a name preserved as faithfully as possible, as Mount Gisart, a castle
and fieft of the county of Japhe, which no one had yet been able to identify.
In this memoir I prove, among other things, by a reasoned comparison of
mediaeval and Arab chronicles, that the famous battle of Mount Gisart, where
Saladin was routed by Baldwin IV the Leper, in 11 77, was fought at Tell
el Jezer, and that in commemoration of this glorious feat of arms, which took
place on November 25, the feast of St. Catharine, a priory of St. Catharine of
Mount Gisart, in the jurisdiction of the bishopric of Lydda, was founded on
Tell el Jezer. It may therefore be expected, when it is decided to make
excavations at Tell el Jezer, that traces of occupation by the Crusaders will
be found in the surface strata. It is very likely to the battle of Mount Gisart
that we should refer the origin of the numerous skeletons discovered at the
south-western extremity of Tell el Jezer, mentioned in the Memoirs, II,
p. 436, as "apparently buried after a battle." Local tradition itself appears
to have retained traces of this memorable event. (See the legend related
above, p. 236, a propos of MCisa Tali'a.)

XIII.— Explanation of the Inscriptions, and Commentary.

I now arrive at the explanation of the inscriptions given already in
fac-simile. They raise various questions of the highest interest. They may
be divided into two groups: (i) the three bilingual ones. A, B, D, which I
discovered in succession, and which being identical in tenour evidently form
part of one and the same group ; (2) the small solitary inscription C.

Inscription C. — I will devote myself first of all to the latter, which is the
only one at all doubtful in its interpretation. It is complete, though very
short, and is simply composed of four large letters, which certain people have
wanted to make out to be Cufic characters !| This, need I say it ? — is a mere

* Clcnnont-Ganncaii, Recueil d'Arckeologie On'enlale, I, 351-391 ; cf. p. 401 : Monf Gisart
et Tell d-Djezer.

t In documents of the Crusades we find mention of several lords of Mount Gisart.
X Cf. Memoirs, II, p. 435. Even the reading ^,U^ ^ (!) has been boldly suggested.

2 L

258 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

delusion. Whoever has the least acquaintance with Semitic palaeography will
have no hesitation in recognizing them as square Hebrew characters, of the
same period as those of the other neighbouring inscriptions. As for the
reading and explanation, I confess they present genuine difficulties. There
is no possible doubt as to the second and fourth characters, which are certainly
a teth and an aleph respectively. The case is otherwise with the first and
third characters. Is the former a nuii, a kaph, or a bcth ? Is the latter 2iphe,
a beth. or a mem ? I give below a table of the different readings that are
paloeographically possible, without venturing as yet to pronounce a decided
opinion.'"'

(?)
3

According to the value assigned to these letters, they lead to all sorts of
combinations, but no one of these seems to me very satisfactory.

i^2t}- recalls the name of the Bible town Netophah ; but it is hard to see
how the name of this town comes to be here at the gates of Gezer, when, if
we admit the conclusions of modern criticism, it must have been situated in
quite another part. NCIO;;, the niphal form of V^"^, "to be impure," would
suggest some ritual direction having reference to the sanctity of the boundary
of Gezer, if that boundary is of religious and not civil origin, as for instance
the indication of a zone beyond which the presence of tombs might give rise
to pollution.! ^^^t}l, "terebinth," would suggest the name oCAin el-Botmeh,
which I found quite close to the town, and so forth. Moreover, this must
not be lost sight of, that if the first letter is a beth, it may perhaps not be a
radical, but the preposition 2 .

I leave to more skilful hands the task of solvino; this riddle. The
answer is perhaps quite simple, but it baffles me. All one can say is that if
this text is, as it appears, contemporaneous with the three others, it does not

* I must especially remark that the loop forming the head of the last letter but one in
M. Lecomte's copy, is nothing like so marked in the original (cf. the photographic fac-simile taken
from the squeeze and given above). The lower stroke of this loop is anything but certain.

t Cf. all the minute precautions to secure purification adopted by Simon at Gezer after the
conquest of the town, in view of its being a hot-bed of idolatry. See also a curious passage in the
Talmud (Tosiphta, Ohol. 18) relating to the impurity of a certain zone round Ascalon, where the
words D'Dinn and D'XOD are actually used.

Gezer. 259

form part of the same series of the boundary-marks of Gezer. It is
noteworthy also, that though placed between two of the large inscriptions, it is
not quite on the north-east line that joins them, but a little inside that line,
to the west.

The three other inscriptions. A, B, D, are, on the contrary, certain in
reading and sense. They repeat a single text, and illustrate and complete
each other. They only differ from one another in the arrangement of the two
parts, Greek and Hebrew, of which they are composed. Inscription D has
suffered greatly, but the missing characters are supplied without trouble by
comparison with A and B :

A. 'KkKloiy) nu onn

B. aoi>y\(y

D. AX/ciou

["i]tM »[n]n

A, B, C: "Of Alkios" {in Greek). "Boundary of Gezer" (in Hebrew).
At the time of the discovery of inscription A, I had been supposing that
AAKIO must be a proper name of a man in the genitive case, for AAKIOY,
and that the stonemason had omitted the final Y either by inadvertence or for
want of room. This supposition was fully confirmed by the subsequent
discovery of B and D, in which KKkIov is actually written at full length. The
omission of the final Y in inscription A tends to show that the stonemason
had cut the Hebrew inscription first, starting from right to left, and then
the Greek inscription, going back from left to right.

It is always a ticklish matter, and sometimes a dangerous one, to try to
date an inscription from palseographical indications. The shapes of the letters
are not always a strict guide in chronology. However, having regard only to
Greek epigraphy, and setting aside the historic probabilities that I shall speak
of presently, one would be inclined a priori to admit that it is earlier than the
Christian era. The alpha, it will be noticed, has in all three cases its cross-bar
horizontal (A) and not broken (a). Now on the stele of Herod's temple,
which I discovered at Jerusalem in 1S71, the date of which is beyond a doubt,
the alphas begin to have the broken bar (A).* The shape of the kappa,

* The paleography of the stele is in strict accordance with that of the coins of Herod the
Great, especially in the case of the characteristic letters A, E, Z, Xl.

2 L 2

26o Arclueolog[ical Researches in Palestine.

though less decisive, corresponds fairly well with this diagnosis ; the two
branches have the acuteness of angle and the shortness that characterise the
ancient prototype |< ; whilst on the temple stele this letter has already
assumed the more modern aspect, K , with the branches more open and
prolonged at top and bottom to the level of the ends of the upright part.

The palaeography of the Hebrew part is not at variance with these
conclusions. As we know, the square Hebrew characters which came into
general use from the Christian era onwards, were certainly in use before that
date, and must date as far back as the Hasmonaean period. The fact that the
Hasmonsean coins, and even those of Barcocheba, have their legends written in
the old Phoenician alphabet, does not militate against this universally accepted
theory ; it was from a deliberate archaism,* and from a desire to assert the
reformed nationality of Israel, that the Hasmonsean princes and those who
later on at the time of the supreme self-assertion of expiring Judaism resumed
their traditions, used for the legends of their coins the ancient script of Israel,
whilst for the daily needs of life this script had been replaced by the square
Aramaic alphabet, a close relation of that of the Nabataeans and the
Palmyrenians.

What was the period when this change was effected among the Jews
from one alphabet to the other .'' In my opinion, it was in the second half
of the 2nd century before Christ, just about the time of the Hasmonaean
ascendancy ; and I base my view upon historical considerations which it would
take too long to consider. It is difficult to assign exact dates to the ancient
Hebrew inscriptions in square characters, now so numerous, that have been
discovered in the immediate neighbourhood of Jerusalem, such as the epitaph
of the tomb of St. James and others like it, the inscriptions on the ossuaries,
and so on. All that can be said is that they border closely on the Christian
era, and naturally involve the existence of an earlier period of a certain length
during which the square character was in use. I shall base my remarks on
two documents, which enable us, I think, to introduce into this still very
obscure question of chronology two precise data, furnishing two fixed points,
two really historical points, with a terminus ad queni and a termimis a quo.

The first is the Hebrew inscription on the sarcophagus of the queen
Saddan or Sadda, discovered in the Kubur el Muluk by M. de Saulcy. I have
shown elsewhere by a series of proofs that the unknown queen resting in this

* Cf. the use of the Gothic alphabet for the legends of certain English coins of the present
day.

Gi'zef. 261

sarcophagus is none other than the very queen of Adiabene, the celebrated
Helen, who may be supposed to have borne, after the fashion of the time, the
Semitic name of Saddan in her national tongue, simultaneously with her
Hellenic name of Helen. Here then is a text in square Hebrew characters
exactly dated by the death of Queen Helen of Adiabene and her burial
in the mao'nificent mausoleuni that she had had constructed at the g-ates of
Jerusalem for herself and her family, which occurred between 65 and 70 a.d.

The other document, on the contrary, takes us back to a period when the
square Hebrew alphabet had not yet taken a definite place, but was already in
the way of being introduced among the Jews. This is the famous inscription
carved several times over on the rock at A'rak el Emir, which has given rise
to so much palaeographical, epigraphical, and historical controversy. Of all
the readings proposed, only one is possible, namely, rr^intD " Tobias." This
one may be taken to be certain. The character is still akin to the ancient
type, but the approach of the square character already makes itself felt.

The great question is to make out who this Tobias is. I do not admit
his being, as various scholars have proposed, Tobias the Ammonite, in the
book of Nehemiah. The date (about 350 B.C.) would be much too early for
the palaeography of the inscription and for the archaeology of the monuments
of A'rak el Emir. I likewise refuse to identify the person with that Tobias,
father of Joseph, who was a farmer of the taxes for Ptolemy V Epiphanes
about 187 B.C., and was the grandfather of Hyrcanus, that is to say of the
individual to whom, according to Josephus, we are to ascribe the foundation of
the citadel called by him Tyros, and to-day by the Arabs A'rak el Emir. I
have arrived at the conclusion that the Tobias whose name appears cut on the
rock at A'rak el Emir, is none other than Hyrcanus himself, that is to say the
actual founder of this most remarkable town.

This is not the place to enter on a regular proof, it would take me too
much out of my way, so I will confine myself to pointing out the principal
argument on which I rely.

Hyrcanus is a purely Hellenic name, and when borne by a Jewish
personage implies the existence of another name, a national Hebrew one.
This, as I have just reminded the reader in the case of Queen Helen, = Saddan,
was a common practice among the Hellenising Semites, who assumed or
received a double name. Greek and Semitic proofs of this usage are
abundant ; to go no further than the name of Hyrcanus, I will point out, for
instance, that, later on, in the Hasmonaean dynasty, we come across a prince
Ihrcanus, who at the same time bears the Jewish name oi John {lojdvpri<;, and

262 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

on his coins pnT^), in just the same way as his son and successor will bear the
double name (Hellenic and ]&v^h\\) A/cxaiidcr JaniKeus.'* Thus the Hyrcanus
who founded the citadel of A'rak el Emir might have borne, nay even must
have borne, a Jewish name in his own tongue. Now what was this Jewish
name ? I do not hesitate to reply, Tobias, and that a priori, quite apart from
the existence of the name in the inscriptions at A'rak el Emir. My reason is
this : Our Hyrcanus, son of Joseph, was -a. grandson of Tobias, and we know
how often the name of the grandfather was transmitted to the grandson by
onomastic atavism. This of itself is a strong presumption in favour of my
thesis. But here is something else that appears to me still more convincing
than this simple induction, which might perhaps be considered rash.

Josephus tells us that Hyrcanus, being brought to bay in his citadel of
A'rak el Emir, ended by committing suicide (about 175 B.C.), and that King
Antiochus (IV Epiphanes) took possession of all the goods that had belonged
to him {Ani. Jtid., xii, 4, 11). I am persuaded that we ought to identify this
latter incident with what is told us in 2 Mace, iii, 1 1. The Seleucid General
Apollonius sends Heliodorus to Jerusalem to call upon the high-priest Onias,
in the name of Antiochus, to give up a considerable quantity of public treasure,
of the existence of which he had been informed by a traitor. Onias in vain
objects, saying that the treasure contains the savings of widows and orphans,
and also "property belonging to a certain person of great consideration"
((r(f>6Spa dvSpos ?f vnepoxfj Ki.ip.ivov) called Hyrcanus son of Tobias. This at
any rate is the meaning hitherto attached to the expression 'TpKavov tov
TwJBlov : " Hyrcanus (son) of Tobias," taking the second name to be a
patronymic, with vlov understood, according to the usage of the Greek
language. It is true that 'TpK-avo? 6 TwySiou, or rather 'TpKuvos TwySiov, in
the nominative, would mean " Hyrcanus, son of Tobias ;" but when in this
expression the name is in the genitive, there is ambiguity, and the phrase
may also be equivalent to 'TpKavov tov koI Tco^lov," of Hyrcanus zolio is also
called Tobias.t The latter meaning is the one that the Latin version has

* It is very probable, in my opinion, that the homonymous Hyrcani, for instance Hyrcanus
II, son and successor of Alexander Jannfeus, Hyrcanus, the nephew of Herod Agrippa, and
Hyrcanus, son of the historian Flavins Josephus, also bore a national Jewish name independently
of the Hellenic one.

t We should then have in the nominative 'YpKut'o^; i Tu-'/i/o? and not o Twih'ov. It is in this
way that the accusative 'laweav tov 'AXe^ai/qioi', which is found in Josephus, presumes the
genitive, 'lavi/ea rSv 'AXe^ducpov. Now it would be absolute nonsense to translate the latter
expression by, of Jannes son of Alexander, since we know perfectly well that the person was called
Alexandcr-Janiies, and was the son of J ohn Hyrcanus.

Gezer. 263

taken, for Hyrkani Tobies can only mean in Latin, " of Hyrcamis-Tobias" not
"of Hyrcanus, son of Tobias." This is how I understand the expression
myself, and I draw from this series of comparisons the following formal
conclusions: (i) that the Hyrcanus-Tobias of the Book of Maccabees, the
important personage whose property Antiochus confiscated, is identical with the
Hyrcanus of Fl. Josephus, whose property meets with a similar fate ; (2) that it
was this Hyrcanus-Tobias who cut ^xx"?, Jeivish name Tobias twice over in monu-
mental characters at AVak el Emir. Consequently the disputed inscription,
thanks to this historical identification, can be exactly dated, as our Hyrcanus
died in 176-175 B.C., and occupied his residence beyond Jordan during seven
consecutive years, as we are informed by Josephus, until the end of the
reign of Seleucus IV Philopator, the predecessor of Antiochus Epiphanes.'"

I apologize for this digression, a somewhat long one perhaps, though I
have attempted to compress into it a reasoning which really demands fuller
treatment. It was however necessary, in order to ensure a firm basis for a
fact of some importance for us, namely, that the use of the square alphabet
must have been introduced among the Jews subsequent to the year 175 b.c,
and only have been generally adopted under the Hasmonsean dynasty, which
hardly came into official existence before 143 B.C., the date when the new
Israel acquired its independence. Consequently our Gezer inscriptions cannot
in any case date farther back than this, while on the other hand Greek
palaeography binds us not to overstep the boundary of the Christian era.
There is still a margin, it will be seen.

The defective spelling of the word QPID, for Dinn, "boundary;" the
appearance of the O, which in this word does not yet assume the final form it
will take in the classic alphabet ; the structure of the component parts of the

* It would in no way surprise me — but I can only put forward the notion here in brief^if
our Hyrcanus, otherwise called Hyrcanus-Tobias, was really a descendant of the famous Tobias
the Ammonite of the book of Nehemiah. According to Josephus the f;imily of Hyrcanus was
known at Jerusalem under the popular name of " Children of Tobias " (<«' 'Xioftlov Truile<i or
vcoi'= nUID ''22 Bene-Tobiyah). This generic appellation perhaps did not refer, as is supposed,
to Tobias the grandfather of Hyrcanus, a person who appears to have played only an obscure
part, but rather to a more distant and more illustrious ancestor, the Tobias of Ammonite origin
who had played a conspicuous part in the history of Jerusalem on the return from the Captivity,
and, to the great indignation of the orthodox party, had made himself a high position in the
Jewish nation by exalted alliances. We could also much more easily explain why our Hyrcanus-
Tobias, when driven from Jerusalem by the enmity of his brothers, went and established himself
in the very heart of the Ammonites, if, by so doing, he was only returning to the land of his
origin, where his family still perhaps had powerful connections.

264 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

ri, the n, the 3, perhaps also the t (hi inscription A at least), are all indications
of comparative archaism, agreeing with the probable age of the Greek
characters. I think then that we shall not be far wrong in placing our
inscriptions at or near the first century of our era, and rather before than after.
We shall see if it is possible to reduce the problem within straiter limits.

No doubt can remain as to the reading and sense of the three inscriptions
A, B, D, despite the reservations made with singular persistency in the
Memoirs* I have already anticipated certain objections more or less clearly
enunciated there, but which have an evident tendency to lessen in the reader's
eyes the importance of the conclusions that I drew at the first from these
invaluable documents ; these conclusions I still maintain, and it now remains
for me to justify them.

With regard to the actual name of Gezer, which is repeated three times,
there is nothing to be said : it is written "lU quite clearly, just as in the
Biblical texts.

The word Orfri, a defective, and even on that account ancient spelling of
mnn, "boundary," does not belong to Biblical Hebrew, but is extremely
common in the Hebrew of the Talmud under the forms mnn and NQinp,
"boundary, limit, frontier." It likewise exists in Syriac {teJuimo). It is one
of those many words of Aramaic origin that must have got into the language
of the Jews at an early period, since the latter had come to speak an Aramaic
or a strongly Aramaised dialect by the time of the Hasmoneeans, perhaps
before it. In fact these profound changes in their language and their writing
in the same direction were of simultaneous occurrence. At the same time that
they began to speak Aramaic, they adopted the square character, in the form
in which we see it in our inscriptions, that is to say, a type of alphabet allied to
those in use around them among the Aramaic peoples. There is a synchronism,
so to speak, in our inscriptions between the appearances of the Aramaic word
nnn and the use of the square characters. The Judaeo-Aramaic language of
the Targums even admits verbs closely related to this word : Dnri,, a piel,
" to bound, to trace a limit," and ''^T\'r\-, a. paei, with the same meanings.

The word ann is also used in the plural, D"<Qinn., ; for instance, to signify
" the boundaries of Ascalon " {Tosiphla, Oholoth, 18). It even appears that

• Memoirs, II, pp. 435, 436 : " The first word is supposed to be an abbreviated form of the
later Hebrew form for oinn, "boundar)-." . . . The letter d . . . would have a medial, not a final
form, if so read . . . The characters, if really Hebrew, approach most closely to the later square
Hebrew forms, and not to the earlier character of the coins, etc., etc."

Gezer. 265

it finally passed into the general meaning of " territory ;" thus we find the
expression n"'-)^ Qinn. "the territory of Ariah" {Tosip/ila, Kilaim i.), exactly
similar to our "IW Dnn, " boundary " or "territory" of Gezer. The word must
have been in common use in Syria, and consequently in Palestine too, which
explained why the Arabs adopted it when they conquered those countries. For
it is clearly evident that the Arabic ^^o', *oiv', JLt^', taklun, tokhiit, takhfmia,
as well as the factitious plural ^^- tokhuni (identical, letter for letter, with the
Aramaic mnn), are simply its immediate derivatives. These Arabic words
signify in their special sense, "boundary part or border between two fields,"
and in their more general sense, "boundary, frontier." For instance, men said
^UJjJl >^.^''> "the frontier of Balka," Aj:^\ *^ , "the frontier of Damascus, or
of Syria," c/r. . . .* The word has likewise furnished verbal derivatives in
Arabic as in Aramaic : ^^^ "to establish a boundary," and ^r^b', "to be
bordering, contiguous."

In the Talmud the word Qinn very often denotes a boundary of a very
particular kind. I shall recur to this shortly, when I discuss the origin and
intention of this boundary of Gezer.

Whatever this origin and this intention were, it is clear that the appearance
of the male proper name Alkios, written in Greek, by the side of the Hebrew
text in each of our inscriptions, admits of but one explanation. This name
can onty be that of some personage playing an essential part in the fixing of
the boundary : either a magistrate who presided over it ex officio, or some great
person for whose benefit the settlement took place, the land marked off being
his personal property. I incline to the former hypothesis ; the use of the
genitive is quite in conformity with the usages of Greek. We must understand
the preposition eVt, or some verbal expression in the genitive, which determines
the nature of his function. On the other hand, if it were a question of private
property, one would think that the expression "boundary of Gezer" would not
have been used; this would imply a boundary concerning the town itself and not
a mere private individual. So I regard Alkios, till the contrary is proved, as
a civil or religious magistrate possessing authority over the territory of Gezer.

At the outset I thought myself able to assert that this name Alkios

* I have my suspicions moreover that the present name of the village of Tc/iihn {^t^),
on the sea-coast between Jebeil and Bathnui, is a weakened form of the word /•vbJ'; ind owes its

name to its position on the boundary of the territories of these two latter towns. Several Greek
and Roman inscriptions relating to the establishment of certain boundaries have been discovered
in the neighbourhood {cf. Renan, Mission de Phhiicie, pp. 147, 149).

2 M

266 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

belonged to a person of Jewish origin. As a matter of fact, Alkios is a purely
Hellenic name, rather rare even in Greek onomastics, and only appearing in
documents that take us to a considerable distance away from Palestine, for
instance, on Phrygian coins.* It even appears, from a comparison between a
passage in Athenseus (XII, 547) and other authorities that mention a certain
Alkios, of the Epicureean school, that "AX/cios is merely a variant of a much
more widespread form 'A^Kaio?.! My impression was that in any case our
name Alkios belonged to the well-known category of Greco-Jewish names
chosen purposely by the Jews from Hellenic names because of their assonance
with their own national names ; for instance -.Jason — Jesus, Joiakiin — Alkinios,
Simeon — Simon, San/ — Paulos, and others like them. Taking this basis, I
suspected Alkios of Gezer to be a Jewish personage having as his national
name Hilkiyah, npbn ('E\/cta?j:), an abbreviation of Hilkiya/m, "ir^pvPI,
and itself admitting abbreviation to Helka'i V^n (Nehemiah xii, 15),
transliterated 'E\Kat in the Septuagint.§

There is another instance to be adduced which invests this conjecture
with a high degree of probability, I mean the long Greek epitaph carved on
the ossuary or sarcophagus at Lydda which I shall speak of later on (Ch. VI).
Whatever meaning be attached to the somewhat obscure genealogy given in
it, which will be treated of, in the proper place and at the proper time, one
fact stands out clearly, that the name Alkios, identical with that in our Gezer
inscriptions, is there found associated with names genuinely Jewish {Simon,
Golmi-) ; consequently we are fully warranted in concluding, as I have done,
that this name really did belong to the Jewish personal vocabulary.

This last is a point of the first importance. We might even go a step
further and inquire whether the Alkios of Gezer and the Alkios of Lydda might
not by chance be one and the same person. || The distance between Lydda and

* Mionnet, Description de medailles, etc., IV, 22B ; suppl., VII, 507.

■f Sec Pape-Bensler, Woerterb. der griec/i. Eigennamen, s.vv.

X This name was still much in vogue in the first century of our era. Cf. Josephus, Ant. Jud.,
xviii, 8:4; xix, 8 : 3 ; xx, 8 : 11.

§ Cf. the Gospel name 'A\0a?o>:, which is an evident Hellenisation of •'sbn, Halphai
(Talmud, "B^-n, Hilphai).

II It may be as well to recall in this place that John Hyrcanus I had a brother, name
unknown, who was given as a hostage to Antiochus VII Sidetes (Josephus, Ant. Jud., xiii, 8, 3).
This unknown son of Simon is not generally inserted in the current genealogies of the
Hasmonajans. Can he have borne the name of Alkios ? The practice of giving Greek names
seems to have taken early root in the Hasmonaean family. John Hyrcanus set the example ; his
descendants followed it, and his son Judas Aristobulus went so far in his taste for things Greek
that he earned the surname of Plu/hellenus.

Gezer. 267

Gezer (about four miles) is inconsiderable enough to allow of the two towns
being regarded as belonging to the same region. Thus there would be
nothing improbable in the idea of the descendants of Alkios who were buried
at Lydda, being buried in a family tomb belonging to Alkios of Gezer and his
ancestors. In that case the latter would naturally have belonged originally to
Lydda. It is interesting, with this in view, to compare the palaeography of
the Greek inscriptions at Gezer with that of the epitaph at Lydda, since on this
hypothesis the two texts would be separated by an interval of one, perhaps
two, generations, according to the sense it may be thought necessary to attach
to this ambiguous epitaph. Now to judge from the shape of the letters, this
epitaph might perfectly well be placed about the beginning of the first century
of our era, which would put the Gezer inscriptions further back, into the latter
half of the century preceding. However, I do not insist on the second part
of this comparison, for it is always possible that the Alkios of Gezer and that
of Lydda are merely homonyms. But what remains certain, in any case, is
that Alkios really is, as I expected, a name belonging to the Greco-Jewish
personal vocabulary.

XIV. — Nature and Origin of ■iiie Boundary,

What was the nature of the boundary which our inscriptions helped to
mark out ? For reasons to which it is useless to recur, I have already
rejected the idea that we only had to deal with a mere boundary of private
property belonging- to a person named Alkios. The tenour of the texts is
explicit : boundary of Gezer, so that the boundary is one concerning the town
itself not a private individual. But what is the nature of the connection ?

It may occur to us to inquire whether this boundary may be a line ot
demarcation between two contiguous territories subject to two more or less
neighbouring towns. We have in Greek and Roman epigraphy, and even in
Syria, numerous instances of inscriptions fixing boundaries of this sort. In
the present case one is almost tempted to think of a passage in Josephus,
{Ant. Jud., xiv, 5:4; Bellnni Jnd., i, 8 : 5), where he states that in 69-63 B.C.
Gabinius, sent by Pompey, divided the Jewish nation into five Sanhedrins,
having as their centres Jerusalem, Gadara, Amathous, Jericho, and Sepphoris.
Gadara, as we have seen, is often put for Gazara. Can it be, then, that we
have come across the territorial boundary of the Sanhedrin of Ciczcr, and
that the latter was placed under the chief jurisdiction of Alkios, a member
of that Jewish aristocracy, (dpicrro/cparta) which Gabinius, according to

2 M 2

68 Ai'chcrolozical Researches in Palestine.

Josephus, substituted for the royal dynasty ? The idea is assuredly attractive ;
but it raises more than one difficulty. In the first place, it is by no means
proved that in the passage quoted Gadara stands for Gezer, and not rather for
Gadara in Peraea. Again, the boundary of the territory of the Sanhedrin,
which must have been of great extent, would have passed very near the town
that was its capital. On the other hand, it is to be noted that in the division
of Judaea into eleven toparchies, which was in existence in the time of
Vespasian (Josephus, Belhuti Jud., iii, 3:5; ef. Pliny the Elder, Hist.
Nat., 5 : 14) we hear nothing of a toparchy of Gezer, although there is one of
Emmaus and Lydda, which are important towns not far away. Lastly, and
most forcible objection of all, if the "boundary of Gezer" was that of some
district having Gezer as its capital, this district would have been of necessity
contiguous to some other district, and in this case our inscriptions would have
to mention, as the custom always is, the tivo districts separated by the line of
demarcation : " boundary of Gezer and 0/, etc."

From this I conclude that the boundary of Gezer can only be a line
encircling the whole city, and marking out a certain zone of comparatively
limited extent, which formed an integral part of the immediate dependencies
of this city, was considered by itself apart from any contiguous exterior
territory, and formed the perimeter of a suburb — of a shape yet to be
determined — having Gezer as its centre.

Before searching in the Biblical and other sources for analogies that
might enlighten us as to the nature and purpose of this perimeter, it will be
as well to examine more nearly the position of these inscribed landmarks, and
particularly their orientation with regard to Tell el Jezer and their distance
from that spot. Circumstances did not allow of our going on with these
observations, but of course it was my intention to make them with the greatest
possible accuracy, reckoning them as an essential factor in the solution of the
problem. However, at my request the Committee was pleased to give
instructions for their being made by the Survey. The results will be found in
a plan on a large scale published in the Memoirs (II, p. 429).

This plan, though very detailed, still leaves some doubt at certain points.
Thus the exact spot of the inscriptions mentioned in the explanation of the plan
is not clearly indicated. The numbers used, i, 2, 3, do not correspond to the
order in which I made the successive discoveries. They answer, in my series,
to B, A, C, not A, B, C. As regards my inscription D, I cannot say whether
it is identical with No. 4 on the plan (see stLpra, p. 233). At all events, it is
pretty nearly in the same direction, and I shall argue as if it were identical.

Gezer. 269

Moreover, as far as I can judge, there is an appreciable difference between the
Map and the special plan as regards the orientation of the medial axis of the
Tell. I will mention, just to remind the reader, an error I have already
pointed out, in the position of 'Ain et Tannur. This was more a mistake
as to toponymy than to topography.

According to the Survey plan my inscription A (=No. 2) is on the right
and to the east of the Tell, which agrees precisely with my own observation,
and at a distance from the middle of the Tell that may be reckoned at 5,600 feet.*
Inscriptions B (=:No. i), C (:=No. 3), and D (=:No. 4) appear set out at
irregular intervals along a line starting" from A (No. 2) and bearing to the
north, which amounts to saying that the texts are easily seen to be arranged
in a row from south-east to north-west. The orientation is perhaps not
faultlessly exact, but the slight variations in the relative positions of the
inscriptions are not sufficient to warrant us in denying this visible tendency
towards a scheme of position depending on the four points of the compass, to
say nothing of the fact that when the inscriptions were cut the cardinal points
were perhaps not the same as those that we use now-a-days. I do not mean
the variation due to the lessening of the mean obliquity of the ecliptic — that
would only give, for 2000 years, an inconsiderable difference of 15' — but we
cannot be sure whether at that time observers fixed their positions by the
equinoctial or (quite possibly) the solstitial points. Taking the rising sunt as
the basis, there might be a difference of 27° 55' under this head, on the
horizon of Jerusalem, either to the north or south of the true astronomical east.

If we attempt to discover a circumference passing through the points
marked out by our inscriptions, by attaching an importance to their slight
deviation from the straight line, which in my opinion they do not possess,
we should find for the centre of this more or less regular circumference a spot
very far from Tell el Jezer, and nearly at Sheikh Ja'bas, which seems
extremely improbable.

From these various considerations therefore, I am finally persuaded that
we should regard our group of inscriptions as marking out a straight line running"
grosso iiiodo from south-east to north-west. This straight line could only forni

* Memoirs, II, pp. 431 and 434.

I I need hardly remark that in practice the ancients, and especially the Semites, when they
wished to determine the bearings of a place or building, did not look to the north, as we do, but
looked to the east, having on their right hand the south and on their left the north : that is to say,
if they had had maps they would have placed the east at the top. This is indicyted by the
Semitic names of the cardinal points ; "before," "right,'' "left."

270 Ai'chccological Researches in Palestine.

part of a quadrilateral, having Tell cl Jczer in the middle, and its angles
pointing to the four quarters of the compass. Inscription A ( = No. 2) would
fix the east corner of the square, inscriptions B, D, would give the line
from east to north, and by following the lines of the four sides, a whole
series of inscriptions might be still discovered. It will be noticed that one
very important point is included in this area, the fine spring of 'Ain Yardeh,
the possession of which must always have been a question of \'ital interest
for the town of Gezer. In this connection it is worth while recalling the
closely-related passage of Josephus quoted above : " Gazara and its springs."

It must be admitted that this figure by its shape, and as we shall see by
its dimensions, is remarkably like the niigrash of the Levitical towns that
enjoyed the right of refuge, a suburban zone encircling the town proper, and
in various respects resembling the trpoadTtiov and the ponia:riunt. I cannot
undertake to give in this place a thorough treatment of this question of the
niigrash, and to follow so many predecessors in discussing the classical passage.
Numbers xxxv, 2-5, on which it rests. I will content myself with remarking
that from comparison of this passage with the other Biblical data the following
results seem clearly established :

(i) That the Levitical towns were surrounded by a first zone distant
1,000 cubits from the outer wall.

(2) That from this first zone 2,000 cubits were measured in the direction
of each of the cardinal points, and that the second zone thus formed, encircling
the first, formed the niigrash proper.

The niigrash therefore, with its four equal dimensions, could only be a
square, and this square was normally orientated.* All we want to know is
whether it was the sides or the corners that were orientated ; whether it was

or a

* This arrangement of the inijrrash recalls in more than one respect that of the ager publicus
of the Roman cities, and especially the Roman colonies. This territory was marked out according
to minute rules borrowed from Etruscan practice, and formed an exactly square area, orientated
on the cardinal points according to two main lines E — W {itecionanus inaximus) and N — S
(cardo maximus) ; the main bounding lines, or extremitates, were marked out either by posts, or
marks, or inscriptions on the roclts. These were the termini terriforiales. 'I'he square was
orientated by its sides, not its angles.

Gezer, 271

In the second case, if we consider the eastern corner, there must have
been between this corner and the wall of the town a total distance of 2,000
+ 1,000 (=3,000) cubits. It will at once be noticed that the latter is just
the state of the case at Tell el Jezer. Our inscription A, to the right and the
east of Gezer, at the beginning of a line running from east to north, is easily
found to be 3,000 cubits distant from the base of the Tell.

The comparison becomes still more striking if the reader will bear in
mind :

(i) That Gezer was one of the towns of Ephraim assigned together
with their migras/iQS, to the Levites, and possessing the right of refuge.
(Joshua xix, 21. Cf. i Chronicles vi, 52.)

(2) That apart from the data above set forth in brief, which necessarily
imply the existence of a fixed line limiting the viigrash, this line encircling the
inviolable territory is expressly mentioned by the name of gebiil (" boundary,"
Numbers xxxv, 26, 27).

(3) That according to a Jewish tradition,* which is valuable at any rate
for the Talmudic period in which it first appears, the zone of protection of the
Cities of Refuge seems to have been marked by conspicuous signs, such as
stelae, a sort oi cippi poiiKerii, bearing written notices.

At the time of my discovery, I put forth the idea that the landmarks on
the Gezer boundary probably were not only indicated by inscriptions on rocks
lying flat, and rather difficult to detect, but that they may have originally had
at the side of them some prominent indications, better adapted to catch the
eye, such as stelce or cippi poincerii. Although my researches on the spot
have not enabled me to find any indications that are conclusive in this respect,
I keep to my idea. It appears to me moreover to be confirmed to a certain
extent by the Jewish tradition just related, which I was not acquainted with
at the time.

Does this mean that I propose to regard our Gezer boundary as the
boundary of the ancient Levitical viigrash spoken of in Numbers ? By no
means, of course, for the mere palaeography of our inscriptions brings us
down to between the Hasmonaean and Herodian periods; only we must not
lose sight of this, that the state of things described in the Book of Numbers
may very well hold good of a much more recent period. To say nothing of
the dates, some of them extraordinarly late, assigned by the hypercritical school

* See the curious passages collected under the word '^VODX in Levy's Neuhebr, u. Chald.
W'^rterhuch, ■ -

272 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

of exegesis to the drawing up of the priestly code, we may at all events
suppose without rashness that this code may have remained in force until
quite late. It is not improbable, under the Hasmonaeans, who were bent
on reviving what they regarded as the oldest traditions of Israel, special
importance was attached to the delimitation of the viigrash of the towns
which, like Gezer, had been, and perhaps still were, assigned to the Levites.
Have we not seen that when Simon had retaken Gezer from the Greco-Syrians,
he had the place carefully purified, meaning to make it his own residence and
that of his son John Hyrcanus, and that he settled in it men charged with
observing the law, that is to say, the religious law? It is, of course, a tempting
idea to see one of these individuals, who were endowed with both civil and
religious functions, or one of their successors, in the person of our Alkios, by
whose diligence the inscriptions were cut that mark the boundary of Gezer.
We might even go so far as to wonder whether by chance the Alkios of Lydda,
son of Simon, identical with the Alkios of Gezer, may be, on the other hand,
if not some other son, to us unknown, at any rate some more or less distant
descendant of the illustrious Hasmoncean prince who brought back Gezer, as
we have seen, into the patrimony of Israel. But this is the mere mirage of
history — I should not dare to go such lengths. The palaeography of the
inscriptions, the presence of the Greek name we find in them, even the possible
relation between these inscriptions and the Lydda epitaph are not in favour of
this daring hypothesis, the effect of which would be to put back the Gezer
texts to the second century B.C.

What may at all events be admitted, without danger to probability, is that
our Gezer boundary corresponds to the famous Sabbatical boundary, which
plays such an important part, and which is mentioned in the life of Jesus
(o-aySySarou 680s, Acts i, 12).* Now, on the other hand, critics are generally
agreed in thinking that the Sabbatical boundary was calculated in precisely the
same way as that of the migrash, and was to some extent confused with it. I
cannot take up afresh the whole of this much-discussed question, but will content
myself with recapitulating the essential data, laying stress on those which have
a particular interest for us.

The basis of this Sabbatical limit is well known ; it was the distance from
the city beyond which one could not go without risking a violation of the law
enjoining absolute rest on the Sabbath. To go beyond it was to make a real

* Denoting the distance from Jerusalem to the spot on the Mount of Olives where the
Ascension took place.

Ge.

zer.

journey, and all journeys on the holy day were forbidden. This distance was
strictly fixed at 2,000 cubits, according- to the rabbis" and the weightiest
of the ancient commentators. The 2,000 cubits were to be reckoned from
the first imaginary perimeter within which the city was supposed to be
inscribed. Now we have seen that this first zone had a uniform breadth of
1,000 cubits, so that we get, starting from the outer wall, a total length
(measured towards one of the cardinal points) of 1,000 + 2,000 = 3,000
cubits, a length identical both with the total width of the iiiigrash and
the distance actually existing between our inscription A and the base of
Tell el Jezer.

The specific word used in the Talmud to denote this Sabbatical
boundary is just the one that appears in our inscriptions, namely rQti^ Dinn,
b^rQiyi ^^'^inn, " Sabbatical boundary," and often, too, for short, Oinn,
"boundary," without the following word Twy, " Sabbath."

It may be supposed that the Sabbatical limit, at any rate in most
important towns,t was properly marked out on the ground and in a more or
less conspicuous way, were it only to enable people to avoid involuntary error
in the observation of the law. This was the more necessary, as in practice
the application of this law involved a curious compromise, which itself implied
the previous existence of a well-defined boundary : this was the middle
course, called in the Talmudj □"'Qinn ''n"l''y, " the mingling of the limits."
In order to be able to go on the Sabbath day further away than the regulation
distance, the following fiction was resorted to : On the Friday evening the
traveller went and deposited at the limit food ready prepared for the next day's
meal, and then it was allowable on the Saturday to make this extreme point,
which in this way was regarded as an inhabited place or legal domicile, the

* Sometimes certain rabbis admit variable distances, 2,800, 2,000, or 1,800 cubits. These
variations are perhaps due to the actual variations of the cubit in the different systems th.it
happened to be used.

t It is odd that, in spite of the attention attracted by the finds at Gezer, no similar inscriptions
have been discovered at other places in Palestine. This must be for want of looking ; I have not
any doubt that others might be found elsewhere. Recently Father van Kasteren {Zeitschrift des
deutschen Faldstina-Vereins, 1891, p. 148) has claimed to discover an inscription of this kind in a
few not very intelligible Greek characters, cut on the rock between Shefa 'Amr and Khiirbet
Husheh ; but I think he is under an illusion. If this obscure inscription relates to a boundary,
which is very doubtful, it is not, in my opinion, the Sabbatical limit of Jewish ritual.

X See the special treatise on the Erubin. These erubiii, or mixed combinations, were also
applied to various other injunctions of the same kind, such as the one relating to the preparation
of food on the Sabbath, and allowed of a partial evasion of these commands, which were very
troublesome in practice.

2 N

2/4 ArcJucological Researches in Palestine.

starting-point for a fresh journey of 2,000 cubits ; so that the Sabbath day's
journey was doubled in length.

It is likely enough that this was the essential object of our Gezer boundary.
The observance of the Sabbatical limit, which we find in full vigour at the
beginning of the first century of our era, must certainly date farther back than
that. Without going so far as to assert, with certain rabbis, that it was
really Biblical in its origin — though the telmm are evidently shaped on the
migrash — we shall not exceed historic probability if we allow that it must have
existed during the Herodian and Hasmonaean periods, when the sacerdotal
and religious organization of the Jewish nation assumed their most characteristic
and narrowest forms. We know how strict the observance of Sabbath rest
was under the Hasmonceans.* It needed the application of force majenre
before the infringement of it was thought warrantable (i Maccabees ii, 32-41 ;
ix, 43, 44. Cf. Josephus, Ani. Jud., xiii, 8 : 4, etc.). So naturally every
precaution was taken to ensure a full and complete observance of the rules
required by it, and the material settling of the limit allowed — the tehnm — was
assuredly the most effectual of these precautions.

XV. — Gezer and the contiguous territories of Ephraim, Dan,

JuDAH, AND Benjamin.

The reader will be able, from what has been already said, to form a
tolerable idea of the importance and variety of the questions which the identi-
fication of Gezer, henceforth immovably fixed on a basis of epigraphy, either
solves or raises. I have for the most part confined myself to skimming the
surface of these questions, so as not to be drawn away into too lengthy develop-
ments. There is, however, one among them possessed of exceptional interest,
which I cannot refrain from shortly noticing before I finish this study of Gezer,
which, for all its length, is nothing but a sketch. The fixing the site of Gezer
furnishes us with the key to a riddle which was the subject of much vain search
before that discovery, namely, the direction of an important part of the southern

* Cf. the curious episode related by Josephus {Ant. Jud., xiii, S : 4), on the authority of
Nicholas of Damascus : Antiochus VII, Sidetes, being accompanied on his expedition against the
Parthians by John Hyrcanus, out of deference to Jewish customs, stops the march of his army
for two consecutive days, the Saturday (Sabbath) and the Whitsunday immediately following.

Gezer. 275

boundary of the tribe of Ephraim. We have seen, It will be remembered, that
Gezer belonged to the territory of this tribe, and marked its extreme western
point; the Hne, starting from Jordan, passed by Bethel [Bciiin), and lastly by
Bethhoron the Nether {Beit Ur et Tahia), finally coming to an end at Gezer.*
Henceforward, therefore, we can with absolute certainty draw the line through
the three known points, Bcitin, Beitur, and Tell el Jezer, otherwise called
Abu Shusheh. It is extremely remarkable to find that Gezer is in an exact
line with Bethoron the Nether and Bethel ; the fact is assuredly not a mere
coincidence. In this way we obtain for this portion of the southern boundary
of Ephraim (the northern one of Benjamin, and then of a part of the territory
of Dan) a tolerably straight line, running uniformly from north-east to south-
west. Gezer was thus situated at the actual intersection of the boundaries of
Ephraim, Dan, and Judah, which hitherto have been so difficult to clear up.
This point then is a definite acquisition for Bible geography, and one of
capital importance. It will tend to modify much theoretical mapping-out
suggested by more or less ingenious commentators. It strikes me that in all
these systems, both old and new, that have been continually putting forth their
first buds or coming into flower anew ever since the discovery of Gezer,
sufficient account has not been taken of this henceforth all-important datum ;
yet it would be easy to show that it also has a bearing on the much-discussed
determination of the line which, leaving the southern boundary of Ephraim at
Bethhoron, dipping southwards at Kirjath Jearim, and branching oft along the
northern boundary of Judah, separated the territory of Benjamin (on the east)
from that of Dan (on the west). I have my own ideas on this subject, and
hope I may some day take my turn and set them forth. I cannot think of
doing so here, it would mean writing a fresh chapter.

* Joshua xvi, 3. {Cf. Josephus, Ant.Jiid., v, i : 22.)

2 N 2

!76

CHAPTER VI.

EXCURSION FROM JERUSALEM TO SEBASTE (SAMARIA) AND
FROM SEBASTE TO GAZA.

{August 26th to September 2gth, 1874.)
From Jerusalem to 'Ain SiniA.

We set out from Jerusalem on Wednesday, August 26th, for this tour,
which was to last five and thirty days. I had resolved to push north as far as
Sebaste, then to make south as far as Gaza, stopping at El Midieh to make a
thorough search over the ruined edifice which it had been proposed to identify
as the burial-place of the Maccabees ; and, finally, to return from Gaza to
Jerusalem by way of Beit Jibrin.

'Andta. — After passing through the village of 'Isawiyeh we reached
'Anata, where we stopped to lunch. The better to loosen the tongues of the
fellahin, I bought a huge dish of fresh figs, and asked them to join us at
dessert. This attention much deliijhted them, but it was near costing us
dear. A Bedawy, who was in the village on business, insisted on having a
share of the treat, with a rudeness that I could not tolerate. I put the ruffian
back in his place with some sharpness, whereupon he got up in a rage and
rushed on me, sword in hand, yelling forth abuse. By pointing our revolvers
at him we kept him at a respectful distance, and the fellahin themselves
undertook to bring him to reason, and make him respect their hosts. This
was one of the very few occasions when we required, I will not say to use our
fire-arms, but to show that we had them.

The inhabitants of 'Anata, whose ethnic name is 'Andty in the singular,
'Andtiyeh in the plural, did not originally belong to that village. Their
ancestors, they say, came from Khurbet 'Almit, situated a mile to the north-

From Jerusalem to Scbastc [Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 277

east. The village has two sanctuaries, that of Neby Sdleh and that of Neby
Rumin, called by some Rubin and by others again Ritmia* This last form,
I must say, looks as if it had been connected by the folk-lore with the name of
Jeremiah, the initial Je being removed by aphseresis, as so frequently happens
in Arabic. 'Anathoth, which indubitably is represented by 'Anata, was, as is
well known, the home of the prophet.

We noticed here the ruins of an ancient church that had just been
brought to light, with a pavement of fine mosaic carefully laid. Probably
some Byzantine church ; we could detect no signs of anything mediaeval
about it.

— From 'Anata we went on to Jeba', passing through Hizmeh, the ethnic
of which is Hesmdtvy in the singular, Hezaw'meh in the plural.

We cast a passing glance at the curious tombs of which I had made a
detailed study some years before. This time they were pointed out to me
under the name of ICbiir beni Isnin {sic).

I think it desirable at this point to give some extracts from my note-
books, containing a few short observations made by me in 1871 at 'Isawiyeh,
'Anata, and Hizmeh. They will serve to complete what has gone before :t

— Near 'Isawiyeh, to the south-east, separated from it by the valley, is a
tell called Tell el Midbcseh. The valley is called Mudawwara ("the round");
there was a spring once, but it has now disappeared. There are numerous
excavations in the rock, which itself has been levelled in places ; presses,
threshing-floors, sepulchres with "ovens." The fellahin of the place tell me
that an hour to the east there is a ruin called Deir es Sidd ; half-an-hour to
the east is Kliitrbet B'ki' edlidn (or B^kV edhdhdn ?), near Sheikh 'Anbar. On
the way you meet with a iiighdret I mm cs Sicltdn (" the cavern of the King's
mother ") ; Kh. Khardzeh ; a little below, but quite near, is a Khiirbet Ij'ivar
er Rummdn {^^^\z= ^^\=^,^ ? perhaps ,1^^ ?).

— To the south of Rds el Kharrilb, on a small mound of lesser height,
is a well called Bir Imrd, which must at one time have had masonry over it.
I note here some fragments of fluted pottery.

— At Rds el Kharrilb, on a high hill surmounted by a plateau, are caverns

* The co-existence of these two forms .,Xt. , and lj..<., is curious ; it suggests the question
"whether this mythical name may not conceal an ancient Aramaic plural which has been preserved
in the two states, the absolute and the emphatic : Riaiiin ;<on and Ei'imia x'Dll (Rumaiyd).

t Carnet IV, pp. 14-17, February, 7, 1S71.

278 ArchcBological Researches in Palestine.

converted into tombs with "ovens;" four or five rock-hewn cisterns; old
potsherds.

— At 'Anata is a small mosque dedicated to Ncby Sdlcli, and a cave called
M'ghdrt Rubin ("cave of Reuben"). I noticed a piece of ancient stone-
work of large blocks with coarse bosses, with a modern built wall round it ; a
capital of a pilaster in the Corinthian style is imbedded in the lower part ;
some fraijments of columns and bases.

— At Hizmeh, numerous rock-hewn caves (troglodytes).

— Exactly opposite Hizmeh, and separated from it by the Wddy Rds el
Fdrd, are to be seen the tombs, properly called ICbur b'ni Isrdin, "the tombs
of the sons of Israel." A peasant-woman told me that K'bur el 'Amdl'ka
(" the tombs of the Amalekites ") was not their name.

— Just near Fara there are some rocks (^etwkdn), called Abu M'sarrah

— The fellahin tell me of the K'biir lakhkhein {=■ el akhein, "the two
brothers), tombs situated an hour or an hour and a half from Hizmeh, near
En N'kkcilch ; these are the tombs of the two brothers [cl ikhwcin).

— Many of the fellahin use the pronunciation Fdrdn instead of Fdrd.
Near Fdrd, at the spring, there is a reservoir called DJibi'Abd Allah.

K'biir beni Isrdin. — I proceed, with the assistance of Brother Lievin,
who is good enough to accompany me, to examine these remarkable re-
mains. For reasons that I cannot here set down, I had a mind to locate
there the real Tomb of Rachel. The hypothesis may seem a very daring one.
Some day perhaps I will discuss it, and I shall not hide from myself the
various difficulties it calls up, which I have been and shall be the very last
person to disregard.

* * * -;;- # * #

The five tombs* rise in tiers one above the other on the hill-side, on the
right bank of the Wdd Z'reik, which joins the IVdd Fdrd at an oblique angle.

* * # # -j;- # #

The blocks used in the construction of them are generally of the square
rather than the oblong shape. The courses deviate considerably from the
horizontal. . . . The corner stones are of larger dimensions than the others.
The rock as a rule has been levelled underneath the courses Here are

* I merely wish to give here some few details from my notes which serve to complete the
very exact study of these remains which has since been made by the Survey {Memoirs, III, 100).

From Jerusalem to Sebastc (Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 279

transverse sections of two of these tombs, which will give an idea of the way
in which they are placed on the sloping ground :

•.*K

V \

k'bur bexi israin : section and doorway

r^r\;. :; -^^v-^SSS^S-^v:-;,;;?

To this I add a small sketch of the door of one of the central chambers
or recesses.*

JebcC. — At Jeba' we made our arrangements for passing the night. My
idea was to make a detailed study of the neighbourhood, so as to try to clear
up if possible the vexed questions of several Bible places mentioned as being
in these parts : e.g., Migron, " the teeth of rock," Seneh and Bozez, lying the
one to the south, the other to the north of the valley separating the Israelites
from the Philistine camp at Michmash (Mukhmas), etc.

According to my custom, before I began my search on the chosen
ground, I drew the fellahin into conversation. Here are various bits of
information that I got from them :

— The ethnic \s Jeb'y in the singular, Jebciiyeh in the plural. The sanctuary
of the village is called after Neby Ydkiib. Sidna Ya'kub, " our Lord Jacob,"
came there in the guise of an old man riding on a white horse. There was
formerly in the midst of Jeba' a Ka/'ah, " fortress," connected by a thread with
a bell (Jaras) at Rama. Rama is probably er Ram, the ancient Ramah, rather
less than two miles south-west of Jeba'. This legend, with its interesting
pronunciation of Rama, harmonises with the statements in the Bible, which
establish the close connection of Geba and Ramah. Jeba' was in the days of
old the residence of Su/tdn esh slihddeh, " the king of the profession of faith,"
or of " the martyrdom."

— The modern inhabitants declare that they came originally from the
country east of Jordan.

— An old fellah of the village told me the following story, which he received,
he said, from his ancestors and from the Christians of Bethlehem. A Christian

* Different from the one given in the Memoirs,

28o Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

of Bethlehem was going to Tayibeh, with his wife or his daughter. Night
coming on, they stopped at Jeba' to sleep. Some men of the town entered
the house where they were sleeping, and outraged the woman, who was found
dead next morning. The Christian thereupon cut her dead body in two and
sent one half to Tayibeh and the other to Mukhmas to the people of his party.
These instantly rose at his call, one band coming from the east, the other
from the west. They first feigned flight in order to entice out the Jeba'iyeh,
who were caught between the two troops and all slain. The massacre took
place in the plain called El Merj fil-MunkcC (jJLxJl ^ -v^')' between Jeba'
and the source of the Wddy Bab esh Shcib, in the immediate neighbourhood
of Jeba'. To this day the corn at this spot is of considerable height, but
produces no ears {ind bisabbilisli).

This legend, which reproduces in naive fashion the narrative of Judges
xix-xx, is not without interest, in spite of the avowed influence of Christian
tradition ; it is particularly curious in its localization of the episodes.

— In conversing with the peasants of Jeba', I noticed the usage of an
expression frequently employed by them, namely, tufdn, in the sense of
"much." The word J^ya appears in Arabic lexicons in this acceptation, but
this was the first time I had noticed it in the popular speech. It is much
better known in the sense of " flood ;" from this one might say a " heap," or
"flood" of things and so "a quantity." It is certainly a word of Aramaic
origin that has got into Arabic : cf. ■'Oip> N;''''D1t3) n31Q''l3, of the Aramaic of the
Talmud, bearing the same sense of " much."

— I proceed to extract, as they stand, from my note-book, the topographical
observations I made either in exploring the various physical features of the
ground between Jeba' and Mukhmas, or in questioning the fellahin of those
two localities. Many of these names do not figure on the Map, and it is
unfortunately difficult for me, as my recollections have grown dim after twenty
years, to indicate their exact position. I should premise for the better
understanding of what follows, that I copy the fellahin in giving the name
IJ'ddy Stnveinit to the upper part of the valley of this name, to the north of
Tell Miriam. The Wddy en Netif oi the Map was pointed out to me by the
peasants under the name of ]]'ddy JcbcC ; others disputed the existence of
this name. '

I give these notes in the same order and in the same form as I took
them, leaving them in their condition of brevity, which often involves
ambiguity, sometimes contradiction :

— Deir Abu Zidd.

From fcrusaloii to Scbastc [San/aria), and from Scbasfc to Gaza. 281

— Kuskttn (and Wddy Kushttn) is the slope below Tell Miriam,* between
the tell and Deir Abu Ziad.

— A little to the north of Mukhmas is Tell cl 'Asker, with ruins (this
from hearsay).

— Between Wady Jeba' and Wady Suweinit is Dhahrat imiii 'Asiveijeh.

— Dhahrat Abu Rif'a and Wad Abu Rif'a (between Wady Jeba', Tell
Miriam and Sammtika).

— The name of Wady Suzuciiiit is pronounced and must be written with a

Jrt(/ and a td : k>^u.w.

— Can Tell Miriam and Deir Abu Rif'a be the two conical hills spoken of
by Robinson ?

— According to others of the fellahin, there is no such place as Deir Abu
Ziad, it is merely Abti Zidd.

— The KUl'at Abu Damns of the Map (to the east of Jeba' on the edge of
Wady Suweinit) was pointed out to me as Da'mns ,^w^cj, and not ^j^y^S^.

— Between Jeba' and Mukhmas, to the north when you have crossed the
wady, you find some high rocks, called E'j'-dk el Munser (^.^J^l) ; to the south
of the wady are the corresponding E'rdk Abou Zidd.

Notes made next day between Jeba' and Mukhmas :

— The false Wady Jeba' is called Wad el Meisa.

— The "back" [dhahrak) between this wady and Wady Suweinit {sic ;
possibly Wad el Medineh ?) is called cl Khashmch.

— The Ras Abu Ziad is bounded by Wady Suweinit.

— Five or six minutes east-north-east of Jeba' there is a vast cave of
irregular shape, with two fig-trees planted at the entrance ; it is called
Meo-hdret Tin Mnsd, "the cave of Moses' fig-tree," or &rdk Mihd, or Shikaf
Tin Mnsd.\ The inhabitants of Jeba' pronounce the word tin, "fig-tree," as if
it were written with an emphatic ta. Probably this is the same word as enters
into the composition of the name Knshtin given above.

— At the foot of Ras Abu Ziad, above the wady (after the bend), a large
cavern of irregular shape, called itrdk or Shikaf Abu Zidd, comes into sight.

— After crossing the little glen of Khallet erArildh, we found opposite the

* Can the name Miriam be altered from Migron?

t In ordinary Arabic ^_sjj^ shul;af means "bits of broken pottery or glass, potsherds."
In the dialect of the fellahin it means " rocks." This is the word that is found forming part of
several Syrian place-names, the best known of which is S/ialiif Arniin. It is a direct survival of
the Aramaic shekifa and shel;apha, XD'pC", XDpC, "rocky peak." The permanence of the cJiuin-
tant sound of the .f {sJi) is remarkable.

2 O

282 Archccoloo-ical Researches in Palestine.

E'rdk Abii Zidd, as we followed the mountain side round, some jagged rocks
called Skhtirel'Arudh* (to the south-south-east of Abu Ziad).
— ^ In the bend of Wady Suweinit (?) is a rocky promontory bearing the

name of Reucheiib (^ <■,) el Lozeh; the mountain stretching above it is called

Hari/it es Sa'da.f

— To the east is /orel Bdb el Wdd, "the hole of the gate of the valley,"
with pointed rocks on the right and left of the valley ; those on the left are
called Jaiet Hassuneh,\ and those on the right Jdiet Bdb el Wad.

— There is no such valley as Wddy E'l-dk ; it should be IVdd EUradiyeh

— At Reucheub el Lozeh and at Abu Ziad there are great patches of
rocks.

Over above el Munser are some e'rdk of the same name.

— Various names of rocks {eurkdn, e'rdk, shikaf, nighdir) between Jeba'
and Mukhmas :

Shikaf ed Dora ; M'ghdrt csh Sli'ir ; M'ghdrt el Hnwdr ; Krdk Abu
'Aitn ; RFghdrt el Battikh.

— At Mukhmas the people say Deir, not Rds Abu Zidd.

Mukhnids. — When we reached Mukhmas, we found a funeral going on.
It was an interesting scene. A cortege of weeping women, with raiment rent,
their breasts bare, uttering cries of anguish in regular rhythm — veritable
threnae — were attending the corpse. The latter lay with his head foremost
on the bier carried on men's shoulders. The widow walked alongside with
her hand placed on the body. Behind followed the old father, supported and
consoled by another aged fellah, who repeated to him incessantly, Ktdlnd
hetk, " we are all thus."

In the village there is the makam of Sultan Ibrahim. Just a little to the
north we examined a piece of ground that had been recently e.xcavated to get
squared blocks from it. There is a quantity of them, without a trace of
mediaeval origin, and many white mosaic-cubes, not one of them in situ.

* 'Arudti means a narrow path along the side of a mountaui.

t Cf., further on, in the Appendix, the place-name Har'ik't el Ka/iMie/i, which I noted
near 'Ellar, and which is compounded with the same word ; harika properly means " confla-
gration." It must have some peculiar meaning in the fellahin dialect, but I did not think of
elucidating the point.

X I cannot possibly remember whether I heard Hassuneli pronounced with a ha or a he. I
doubt very much whether one is justified in taking it to be the rock of Seneh of the Bible
narrative.

From Jcrnsalciii to Scbaitc (Saiiiai-iii), and front Sebastc to Gaza. 283

Among the hewn stones we noticed a few sculptured fragments ; here
is a specimen of one, a sort of ridge-shaped piece of stone rather curiously
fashioned, and displaying a decorative treatment of Byzantine style :

Elevation. Section.

SCULPTURED STON'E KROM NEAR MUKllMAS. Scale J^.

While M. Lecomte was engaged in drawing, with fellahhi crowding round
him, one of them managed to rob him, with a dexterity that professional
pickpockets might envy, of his handkerchief, a silk wrapper, and various
small articles. We only discovered the theft when the drawing was done,
and it was impossible to find the thief

It is possible that the important edifice that existed here was the convent
founded by Abbot Firminus, disciple of St. Sabas,* near Mukhmas.

On the western side of Wad Abu Rif'a are visible the doors of rock-hewn
tombs, which must represent the ancient burying-ground of Mukhmas. At
the end of the hill on which the village is built are a quantity of irregular-
shaped caves.

Dcir Dubzvdn. — From Mukhmas we proceeded to Deir Dubwan. The
inhabitants of the village pronounce the name Dcir Diwdn. The ethnic is in
the singular Diwdny, in the plural Debdivneh. According to them the ancient
town was at the ruin of Khurbet Haiydn, just a little to the south ; Deir Diwan
is only the convent. The great plain Hanking it is called Haiydn. The name
of the tell lying immediately to the north of Deir Diwan is Tel/ Silr. At
Burjmus there is no Khurbeh, absolutely nothing but rocks, my guide assured
me. Opposite is el Mentdr.

— At el Mukater we took a hurried survey of the ruined basilica. The
stones are "pock-marked" and not mediaeval.

— At Burj Beitin we noticed a quantity of ancient remains used to enclose
the fig-gardens, consisting of architectural fragments in the Byzantine style,
capitals, cornices, mouldings, &c. M. Lecomte made sketches of a few.
Some of the fragments are actually built into the tower.t Here are a great

* Life of St. Sabas, by Cyril of Scythopolis, in the Monuinenta EcclesicB GrcBcce of

Cotellerius III, 16: u fniKiijHi t^^ ^lU/t^iiro'^, o Uttl t« fic/ii/ M«^^i«9 Xui'/tcw (riiGjijtTa^ici'Ov.

t Drawings not to be found.

202

284 ArcJuTological Researches in Palestine.

quantity of large blocks well cut, not one of them looking mediseval. These
materials may very well have been worked up in Crusading times, but I think
they come from the basilica of el Mukater.

— At Beitin, on the contrary, I noticed in the remnant of the church some
stones with the mediaeval tool marks clearly showing ; the cornice of the apse
is certainly of the Crusading period.

— The oreat birkek oi Beitin \s cdiWcd Bahdr Bciiin, "the sea of Beitin."
The name recalls that of "the sea of Jaezer" in the Bible. The ethnic is
Beitiny in the singular, Beidfiieh in the plural.

El Bireh. — From Beitin we descended again towards el Birch. The
ruined church is entirely mediaeval, as is shown by the tool-marks on the
stones, and the nature of the masons' marks. At the beginnings of the apses
the blocks have the grooves entirely oblique, even in the concave parts,
contrary to what I noticed at Abu Ghosh and elsewhere.

I discovered the inscription that I had been told of some time before by
the natives of Lydda,* hidden behind a pomegranate-tree, as they described.
It is carved on a pillar imbedded in the inner south wall.t

The ethnic is Birdivy in the singular, Beidrweh in the plural.
Jefneh or Jiifna. — From el Bireh we went again to Jefneh, where we
were to pass the night. The ethnic is Jefndivy in the singular, Jefdw'neh
in the plural. The vines of Jefneh are highly celebrated, whence probably
the village derives its present name, ja/n meaning "vine-stock." This
peculiarity, I think, finally establishes the identity of Jefneh with the Gophna
{oiiJLTTe\o<;, " vine ") of the Onomasticon, the Gnphna, Gnphnit, Beth Guphin of
the Talmud {Gu/na likewise meaning a "vine-stock").

As for the attempted identification with the Ophni of the Bible, it appears
very doubtful, the change of the initial 'ain to ginicl and to jini being
improbable, to say nothing of the topographical difficulties, Ophni being in
the territory of Benjamin, and Jefneh, from position, more probably in that
of Ephraim.

— Next morning, as we left Jefneh on our way to 'Ain Sinia, we noticed
on the left hand on the outskirts of the village numerous rock-hewn tombs.

'Ain Sinid. — We made rather a long halt at 'Ain Sinia, which is an

* Cf. supra, p. 100.

t By an unaccountable fatality I can find no trace of this inscription among my notes and
squeezes, and now I do not even remember what language it was in. I counsel future explorers
to supply this want.

From Jcntsalcm to Scbastc {Samaria), and front Scbastc to Gaza. 285

important locality, as we shall see. The ethnic is 'Ansdivy in the singular,
'Andsweh in the plural. There are two sanctuaries : the makam of Sheikh
H'sein and that of Sheikh Ahmed el 'Adjemy. The village has numbers of
springs, called as follows : 'Ain el Mezrdb, 'Ain Sheikh H'sem, 'Ain el farab,
'Ain el Merj, 'Ain el Ballitta.

I explored the rock-hewn tomb with its Hebrew inscription carved above
the door, discovered in 1872 by the lamented Drake.* On having the inside
cleared out a little, I saw that it consisted of a chamber of irregular shape,
with an attempt at a funerary loculus (arcosolium ?) on the right hand side,
I picked up a ring or small bracelet of copper, but found no trace of the
ossuaries that Drake saw fragments of. The fellahin told me that two
foreigners, H'n/id, " Indians" (probably dervishes from central Asia), had been
buried there a few years before ; and, in fact, we saw their bones at the
surface of the soil that filled up the cavity. Here are the elev^ation and the
section of the entrance to the tomb, with the position of the inscription
marked : —

Front view.

Section.

ROCK TOMB NEAR 'aIN s'lNIA. .Scale yJ^r

I copied the inscription, and took a good squeeze of it. It consists of a
longish line of square Hebrew characters difficult to make out. The characters

Inscription on the above.

are, however, cut, as a rule, carefully enough and deeply, but at the end ot

* Qiiarterty Statement, July, 1872, p. 87. Memoirs, II, p. 302.

286 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

the line the work is more negligently done ; they are larger, not so well kept
in line, and disfigured by broken places. The beginning is easily deciphered :

•••-a -W-h^ 'yi rr^liry* •• Hananiah, son of Eleazar, son of . . . ."
This reading, which was my suggestion, has been rightly adopted in
the Memoirs (1882, II, p. 302!); those that have subsequently been put
forward in the Quarterly Statement {1883, p. 170, and 1885, p. 14) are
inadmissible. It is absolutely impossible to read " Moses bar Eleazar bar
Zechariah the priest."

The use of the Aramaic form bar, " son," instead of the Hebrew form ben
is in no wise extraordinary. We have many examples of this in the language
of the Talmud and in inscriptions. From the palaeographic point of view
attention should be given to the very peculiar shape of the aleph in the name
of Eleazar, which strikingly reminds one of the Nabattean aleph. This is not
the first time I have noticed analogies of this sort between certain Nabataean
letters and the corresponding letters of the Hebrew alphabet used in ancient
inscriptions in square characters. This holds good, for instance, of the shin
and the final mem in the inscriptions on the ossuaries of the Mount of
Stumbling {see Volume I).

The word bar after the name of Eleazar was certainly followed by a
third proper name, that of the grandfather of Hananiah, but I have no
hope of making it out. I will content myself with giving, for the end of
the line, a transcription of the characters as far as I can distinguish them,
with their different possible values : —

(?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?) (?)

-r T n j : 1 o -1 n 3 1 (?) 1 "^
"I "I n "^ 2 "^ T n "I "• T

t 1 ^ t ST T T

It will be seen that with the exception of the n and the Q, all the characters
are more or less doubtful, and lend themselves to many combinations too
conjectural to detain us: Joseph {}), Jacob {}), of /?«;;/ ("^rDin ?), or of Rim-

* The long upright stroke after the 'ain is not, as might be supposed at first sight, the stem
of a lamed, but a wrong stroke.

t Only it is doubly inaccurate to say that the inscription was plainly legible, but so roughly
cut that a squeeze was impossible.

From Jerusalem to Scbastc {Samaria), and from Sebastc to Gaza. 287

man (?) ? ?,* and so on. The style of the characters is strongly reminiscent
of that of the inscription cut on the architrave of the so-called Tomb of
St. James at Jerusalem, the epitaph of the family of Bene Hezir.t They
probably belong to the same period, that is to say to the beginning of the
Christian era.

Considering the well-known alternation of the same proper names in the
same family from generation to generation, it might be asked whether our
Hananiah, son of Eleazar, may not have been related to Eleazaros, son of
Ananos (or Ananas = Ananias) the High Priest, who was himself appointed
High Priest by the Praetor Valerius Gratus, the predecessor of Pontius Pilate.J

Jeshanah. — The village of 'Ain Sinia has been known for a long time —
Robinson, Guerin and others have visited it. Hitherto, however, no one had
thought that it might represent a Biblical spot. After an attentive examina-
tion of the locality and the texts, I have come to the conclusion that we
probably ought to recognise in it the town of Jeshanah, which plays a very
important part in ancient Jewish history. This will I hope be clear from the
historical and topographical considerations following.

Rehoboam, King of Judah, Solomon's son and successor, does not appear
to have engaged in a regular war against Jeroboam, though the latter had
brought about the secession of the Ten Tribes, and managed to set up in
his own interest the Kingdom of Israel in opposition to the Kingdom of
Judah, without meeting with any serious opposition.

The Bible says, indeed, twice over, that the two rivals were perpetually
in conflict (i Kings xiv, 30, xv, 6); but this state of chronic hostility does
not seem, at least so far as our documents go, to have resolved itself into any
great military adventures.

The real cause of the inaction of the King of Judah is to be sought in
the terrible Egyptian invasion under Shishak, probably provoked by Jeroboam
himself, who, fleeing before the wrath of Solomon, had formerly been the
guest of the Egyptian Pharaoh, and afterwards probably his agent. A curious
addition in the Septuagint version (BacrtX, iii, 12, [15]) declares further that
Jeroboam married the sister-in-law of Shishak, Ano, the elder sister of Theke-

* Ra7n and Rammon are places near 'Ain Sinia.

t At the time I had an idea that the end of the Hne might be -\tn ]1, "son of Hezer" (for
Hezir), but this is very doubtful. " Son of Hod " (i Chron. vii, 37) is hardly more probable.

I Josephus, Ant. Jud., xviii, 2:2; <■/. Bell. Jud., ii, 17: 2 ; 17: 5 ; 20 : 4, where there
appears an Eleazaros, son of Ananias the High Priest, who plays a most active part in the great
Jewish rising under the Procurator Florus.

2 88 Archcsologkal Researches in Palestine.

mina, own wife to the Pharaoh. This matrimonial alliance could not fail to
draw tighter the political bond uniting Jeroboam and Shishak.

Not until Rehoboam saw his kingdom invaded and his very capital
pillaged by the Egyptians, did it occur to him to assert by force of arms his
rights against an all-powerful usurper.

The first intention of Rehoboam was surely to attack the Israelite
secession. With this view he gets together a considerable army (2 Chron.
xi, i), but all at once he thinks better of it, and at the bidding of Jehovah
abandons this fratricidal struggle [id., iv) : " Fight not against your brethren."

It is allowable to suppose that the threatening attitude of Egypt counted
for something in this sudden change of front, which this mere sentimental
reason is not adequate to explain. We see, in fact, that while Rehoboam
abandons his expedition against insurgent Israel, he diverts all his warlike
activity to putting his country in a state of defence. He fortifies the towns,
stores in them provisions and material, puts in them garrisons with their
captains, and so forth. The position of these towns shows well enough from
what quarter the storm was expected. They are all to the south, or south-
west of Jerusalem : Bethlehem, Thekoa, Etam, Beth-zur, Shoco, Adullam,
Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and
Hebron (2 Chron. xi, 6-10).

Despite these measures of defence, the kingdom of Judah was unable to
resist ; but it survived the invasion of Shishak, which in reality was nothing
but a ^r^diX. ghazzi a, with pillage for its main object, and seems to have borne
as hardly on Israel as on Judah, to judge from Egyptian sources of information.

Abijah or Abijam, the son and successor of Rehoboam, was the first to
approach Jeroboam arms in hand, and to call him seriously to account for his
usurpation.

The chapter of the First Book of Kings already quoted (and xv, 7) contents
itself with remarking laconically, using the same expression as in verse 6,
that there was "war between Abijam and Jeroboam." We are therein
referred for fuller details to the "Chronicles of the Kings of Judah" {sepher
dibre hayyamini), where, it says, the words and acts of Abijah are related.

It may be this source, now unfortunately lost, that furnished the com-
piler of the Book of Chronicles with the more circumstantial details that he
gives us about the history of this war.*

* 2 Chronicles, xiii. The narrative (v. 2) begins by repeating the same formula as that
in the passage of i Kings (xv, 7).

From Jerusalevi to Scbaste {^Sa)uaria\ and from Scbaste to Gaza. 289

Here we see Abijah taking the offensive against Jeroboam, who for
eighteen years had enjoyed the fruits of his usurpation without any serious
anxiety. Abijah assembles an army of "four hundred thousand chosen men."
These figures of course cannot be taken seriously, any more than those of the
army of Jeroboam, which is reckoned at "eight hundred thousand men " in
the Hebrew text. The Vulgate reduces these figures to forty thousand and
forty-eight thousand respectively. It is enough for us to suppose that Abijah
attacked with forces half as numerous as those of his adversary.

According to Josephus, the King of Judah invaded the enemy's territory
[Antiq. Jttd., viii, 11, 2), but the fact of the matter is that it was Jeroboam
who assumed the offensive. However, even according to the narrative of
the Jewish historian, the King of Judah does not await the arrival of his
opponent, but advances to meet him : dmjvTrjcre tS) 'lepofiodfKi). At all events,
Abijah takes up his position on Mount Zemaraim, "in Mount Ephraim":
D''-1Q!J •^rh hyCi n^inW ap^T (H Chron. xiii, 4).

Mount Zemaraim is near the town of the same name belonging to the
territory of Benjamin. No one has yet succeeded in discovering either the
town or the mountain. I wonder whether it could by chance be the Ras ez
Zeiinera, a little to the south of Taiyibeh.'" Despite its thoroughly Arabic
appearance, the name Zcimara would be the strict phonetic equivalent of
Zemaraim, the Arabic rMin often standing for a Hebrew or Aramaic zade.

* The same idea, I see, has occurred to Mr. Trelawney Saunders {Old Testament — map). It
follows naturally from the identification of Jeshanah which I had proposed and he adopted. Up
to this time it had been supposed that the Benjamite town of Zemaraim might be identified with
Ktiurbet es Samra, which is situated on the side next Jordan. This identification, which is still
adopted in the 21-sheet Map, seems to me to deserve rejection on several grounds. In the first
place, from the onomastic point of view : — the resemblance between Samra and Zemaraim is
merely on the surface, and disappears upon comparing the real forms of these names. Samra is
written with a sin, which cannot correspond to the Hebrew zade. The two letters are two
radically different sibilants which can only be interchanged under particular circumstances, which
do not occur here, namely, when another eniphatic consonant is present in the word. Samra is
nothing more or less than the feminine of asmar, " black," or, if it be preferred, the collective
plural "Samaritans;" it has no sort of connection with the Hebrew Zemaraim. From the
topographic point of view the identification is no less unsatisfactory, for Kh. es Samra is much
too far away from the neighbourhood of Bethel, Jeshanah, and Ephron. Now the town of
Zemaraim could not have been far from Bethel, being mentioned along with it in Joshua xviii, 22.
It is no less clear, from the general tenour of the account of the battle between Abijah and
Jeroboam, that Bethel and Mount Zemaraim (a namesake of the town) were in proximity. The
latter must have been in the south-south-east part of the disputed belt, near the boundary between
the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. From the point of view of onomastics and of topography,
therefore, Ras ez Zeimara stands a very good chance of being identical with Zemaraim.

2 P

290 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

At this point the Bible narrative puts into the mouth of Abijah one of
those conventional discourses that reminds us of the rhetorical declamations
so dear to the heart of the historians of classical antiquity. This long and
vehement harangue, addressed to the traitorous and sacrilegious rebel, extends
from verse 4 to verse 13.

However, Jeroboam taking advantage of his superiority of numbers
had turned the position that Abijah occupied, taking him in front and
rear. Battle is joined, and in spite of, or rather on account of the man-
oeuvre of Jeroboam, who seems to have been as poor in generalship as
he was good at diplomacy, the result is the utter defeat of the army of
Israel. The latter, while trying to carry out a flanking movement, had let
itself be cut in two.

I do not wish to lay any stress on the total losses — five hundred thousand
men! Here again the Vulgate reduces the figure to fifty tliousand. It
would perhaps be better still to read five thousand, and to suppress without
further ceremony the "hundred" in this passage, as in that already quoted.
This would bring the number of combatants to four thousand on one
side and eight thousand on the other. Or, if you prefer it, eliminate the
word "thousand" from the figures of the losses, which would bring
them down to five hundred, a reasonable proportion enough, if we
admit four thousand and eight thousand as being the real numbers of the
combatants.

In a word, Abijah wins all along the line. He pursues Jeroboam, and
takes from him three towns, " Bethel and her daughters, Jeshanah and her
daughters, Ephron and her daughters" (verse 19).

Of these three towns Bethel, JeshanaJt, and Ephrait)!, one only, Bethel,
can be located with any precision. Topographers agree in placing Bethel at
Beitin ; Ephron, or according to the variant of the " Keri," Ephi'ain, is gene-
rally regarded as identical with Ophrah, which is located with some probability,
but without absolute certainty, at the village of Taiyibeh, nearly an hour to
the north-east of Beitin.

This leaves us with Jeshanah, which up to now had been classed by
commentators among the desiderata of Biblical topography.

I am not here concerned with the subsidiary question whether Jeshanah,
the name of which is transliterated 'Icrava in the corresponding account given
by Josephus {Antiq. Jud., viii, 11, 3), is the same locality as the village of
'lo-ava?, which, according to this same writer, was long afterwards the scene
of the meeting between Herod and Pappus, the general of the army of

Frojn Jerusalem to Sebasie [Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 2gi

Antigonus.* If these two places are really one, so much the better; what I
am going to suggest for the first will in that case apply to the second, and
thus we shall kill two birds with one stone.

Even if we did not know from another source what kind of place the
famous Bethel, one of the three towns, was, the mention of their banotk,
" daughters," would suffice to show that we had to deal with important cities
with the characteristics of a metropolis. Josephus has no hesitation in
rendering thus : " Bethel and Isana with their toparchies, koL Tr]v Tonapx^o-v

The three towns mentioned together in the Bible narrative must be
pretty close to one another and form a strategic group in the same region.
Their capture is the immediate result of the defeat of Jeroboam, and Abijah
makes himself master of them as he pursues the King of Israel.

Moreover, they must have been on the confines of the two kingdoms ; for
Bethel stood almost exactly on the frontier of Israel and Judah, and it is
difficult to imagine Abijah annexing anything but a strip of territory that
bordered on his own. This strip, clearly marked out by three points, and
seized upon in a moment of surprise, must have been strictly limited. As a
matter of fact we do not hear of Abijah pushing the pursuit any further and
extending his conquests.

This granted, we must look for Jeshanah in the neighbourhood of Beitin,
preferably to the north of it. It should therefore occasion us no surprise if
this single passage is the only place in the Bible where we come across the
name of a town as important as Jeshanah appears to have been. It must
have belonged, from its presumed position, to the territory of Ephraim. Now
we know that as the book of Joshua omits to include the list of the cities of
Ephraim from its catalogue, or rather systematically excludes them, we have
but little information about anything that concerns the district occupied by
this tribe.

These various considerations induce me to propose as the desired site
our village of 'Ain Sinia, which is about ^ve kilometres almost due north of
Beitin.

'Ain Sinia is beyond doubt on an ancient site. Two facts sufiice to

* Antiq. Jud., xiv, 15, 12. The contrary view is rather favoured by the fact that when this
narrative is repeated in Xhejewisk Wars (i, 17, 5), the name of 'iTrirrc.- is replaced by Kava. This
variant is easy to account for palEeographically in the uncial characters of the MSS. : IC^N^,
KXN^(IC = K). What we now want to know is, which of the two forms gave rise to the other

292 Archarological Researches in Palestine.

prove this : first, the existence of the numerous and abundant springs already
enumerated by me, which must at all times have marked out the place as a
desirable site ; and secondly, the presence of the rock-hewn necropolis of
which I have already spoken.

The site would answer perfectly well to the general requirements of the
problem, only we must consider whether the Arabic name complies with the
exigencies of onomastic tradition, which is an essential preliminary to right
identification in Biblical geography.

The village of 'Ain Sinia, literally, "the spring of Sinia," lies in a valley
that bears like itself the name of Sinia. This detail has an importance of its
own, for whenever we find in Palestine the same name, with a well-marked
form, attaching simultaneously to a village and to a Khiirbeli, a zuddy, or an
'ain, that are close to one another, we should bear in mind that this tenacity
implies the antiquity of the name.

In the present instance the homonymity of 'Ai7i Sinia and It'ddy Sinia
also justifies us in confining our attention to the word Sfnid. Now this name
Sinia Loj^; offers a most unmistakable likeness to that of Jeshanah 'nl'^^-

In fact there was every likelihood that the word. JesJianah, which rightly
or wrongly is explained by the root ""m-^ yachan, "to be old,"* should lose its
initial yod in passing to the Arabic, whether it was radical or not. This
aphceresis is normal, so to speak, for most geographical names of this type :
Ye7'icho = Rika, Yezrael = Zei'in, etc.

In conformity wuth another rule of no less certainty, the Hebrew shin
becomes an Arabic sin : so shanah = sanah. As for the modification of the
a towards i, this phenomenon need excite no surprise on the shifting ground
of the Semitic vowels. Besides, it is notorious that the Masoretic punctuation
has to be received with considerable caution. I would remind the reader,
though without desiring to attach too much importance to the fact, that the
Septuagint transliterates the name of our town : 'lecmi-a. We are at liberty
to regard this n as a step towards the i (by iotacism), but it may be simply
a copyist's error.

As for the origin of the termination id U, which must not be confused
with iyah, iyeh, ^,, the feminine ending of the adjective or relative, this is met
with in scores of Arabic place-names in these parts. I mention at haphazard :
Kebbid, Deir I slid, Beit Unid, 'Ain Kef rid, Sirisid, Jiljilid, Ferdisid,

■ Jeshanah would thus mean " the Old," just as Hadasha means " the New."

From Jerusalem to Sebaste (Samaria), and from Scbaste to Gaza. 293

Tarjidid, Rashanid, etc.* In several of these names the termhiation id is
seen to be distinct from the radical theme : Kefr . . . , Jiljil . . , Ferdis . . . ,
etc. We are therefore within our rights in likewise isolating the theme Sm in
Stnid, by removing the adventitious termination id, whatever its origin may
really have been.

Sinid, which constitutes a successive contraction and expansion of the
Hebrew -word Jcshana/i, itself undergoes in Arabic a much more curious and
pronounced contraction when it appears in the ethnic form. As I have
already stated, a man of 'Ain Stnid is called 'Ansdwy ^^.1.,^^, plural 'Andswek,
iyJ\ls^. It is certainly less difficult to admit ilxAt Jcshanah has become Sinid,
than to believe that the constituent parts of 'Ansdivj are 'Ain Sinid, which
is however beyond a doubt.

So then topographically and onomastically 'Ain Sini^ may with perfect
justice be accepted as the ancient Jeshanah.

It is a striking fact that Beitin, 'Ain Sinia and Taiyibeh, that is to say,
Bethel, Jeshanah and Ephron (?) happen to form a triangle of which the
southern apex is represented by Beitin (Bethel) ; this triangle must have had
a real strategic value, since it is comprised in an elevated plateau formed by
the intersection of the watersheds of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea,
and a great number of valleys radiate from it. On this territory, reft from
Jeroboam, stood the banotli, "the daughters," that is to say, the villages
depending on the three towns. These villages are represented at the present
day by a number of ruins and hamlets dotted about over this region.

Schwarz proposed to identify Jeshanah with a village Al-sanim, two miles
west of Bethel, which village Sir G. Grove rightly declared to be "undiscover-
able in any map which the writer has consulted."! In any case it does not
even appear on the map accompanying the work of the learned rabbi. Can it
be, in spite of the marked differences between the names and positions of the
two villages, that 'Ain Sinid, or perhaps, the ruins of Sali^niya, which are
actually to the ivcst of Beitin, was the place that Schwarz had in view .''
It is hard to say.| I will merely observe that the German edition of

* Compare the place-names of Palestine in the Talmud that end in ^^i : Kepher Lekitia,
Gozeria, Talmia, Touria, Migdal Notinia, etc.

t Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, s. v. Jeshanah.

% This is evidently the Khiirbet Selemiyeh of the P.E. Fund Map, which is in fact two miles
7L<est of Bcltin. Name, distance, and position agree. Consequently it is certainly not our
"Ain Sinia that Schwarz had in mind.

2 94 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

Schwarz* has Al-Sania, which would not be so far from Ain Sinid. At
all events Schwarz seems to have been making- in this instance one of those
random shots to which he was only too prone.

There exists another place in Palestine bearing exactly the same name
as 'Ain Sinia, namely, the ruin called Klnwbet Si7iid,\ situated a little to
the east of Tubas, the ancient Thebez, according to a generally received
opinion. This northern Sftiid would, from its position, belong to the territory
of Issachar, near the boundary of Manasseh. Possibly in this case Sinia,
ljJuw> may be the onomastic topographic equivalent of Shion pN''\t^, a town of
Issachar mentioned between Haphraim and Anaharath (Joshua xix, 19).
The book of Joshua, if the reader remembers, instead of enumerating the
towns of Issachar by groups, mentions them in order as they lie along the
boundary of the tribe. The Onomasticou, it is true, suggests the identification
of this Shion with a locality bearing a name probably analogous, near Mount
Tabor, which is utterly removed from our second Sinia. But we know too
well on what slender bases the identifications of Eusebius and St. Jerome
sometimes rest. In geographical matters they have all the boldness of the
most adventurous of modern commentators. If this Khiirbet Sinia does not
represent Chion in Issachar, it is perhaps a Jeshanah of the same name as that
in Ephraim, and no mention of it has survived to our day. The name is one
of those that by their very meaning are destined to have duplicates at different
places, since it means simply "the Old."

In the Talmud mention is made of a magistrate (or archon ?) of Jeshanah :
TOIl^TJ "'31^^. Does this passage really refer to our Jeshanah in Ephraim ?

From 'Ain Sinia to Nablus.

Yabrud. — From 'Ain Sinia we ascended again to Yabrud. Near the
village the tomb of Neby Yousef is pointed out by the inhabitants. The
ethnic is Yabroudy, plural Yabdr deh.

The Arab geographer Yaktat speaks of the two villages Yabriid and
'Ain Yabrud (which is less than a mile and a half to the south of the former).

* Das heilige Land, page 125. Al-salimia, for as-salimia ; in his Arabic transliterations
Schwarz always neglects to mark the insertion of the article before the " solar " letters.

t Guerin, Samarie, I, 361. It does not appear on the Map. See the observation on this
subject in the Memoirs, II, page 240.

Fi'oni J cm sale in to Scbaste [Samaria), and front Sebasfe to Gaza. 295

He mentions some notable persons as coming from Yabrud, and says that
'Ain Yabrud was formerly distinguished by a double ivakf (pious foundation),
which was bought up by Sultan el Melek el Mo'addham, and set apart by him
for the support of the Sebil.*

He adds in a rather ambiguous jDassage, which, however, can only be
interpreted in one way, that between "'Ain Yabrud and Yabrud" there is
Kefcr Ndthd. This reading is certainly incorrect, for it is impossible that
Yakut should have been thinking of the village of Kefer Nata, which lies far
distant, to the south of Deir Dubwan, and besides he would have no plausible
reason for mentioning it here. He must undoubtedly be alluding to the now
ruined village of Kefcr 'And, which is actually between Yabrud and Ain
Yabrud, and which some have wished to identify with the Chephar
Haammonai of the tribe of Benjamin.t We should, I think, be justified in
correcting in the Arabic text, UU yi to UU^.

Geba. — We should expect to find in these parts a village rr;/3a, Geba,
which the Onomasticon locates five miles from Gouphnai (Jufna), on the way
to Neapolis, and ventures to identify with the Gebini of Isaiah x, 31. The
identification is worthless of course, but the village alluded to in the
Onomasticon must none the less have a real existence. At the requisite
distance, and in the requisite direction, there is a certain IVdd d Jib, running
alongside the Roman way. This, it appears to me, has preserved the name
of the vanished village.|

TaiyibcJi ; Roman Milestones. — From Yabrud we made straight for
Taiyibeh. I particularly busied myself with examining the milestones that
Major Conder had remarked to the south-east of Taiyibeh, on the ancient
Roman road going down to 'Ain Duk, which is none other than the highway
that in ancient times united Neapolis (Sichem) with Jericho.

These stones are divided \\\\.o three groups : the first at somewhere about two
Roman miles from Taiyibeh ; the second just a mile further south (by the place
called Mimtdr er Rfeif) ; the third a little less than a mile from the preceding.

* Sebil means both " road " and "public fountain." The former meaning is, I think, the one
here assigned to it. The object was, as YakCit explains, to keep up the north road from Jerusalem,
which unites that town with Nablus by way of 'Ain YabrCid.

t Memoirs, II, page 299.— Cy for the passage of Yakut the abridged translation of it given
by M. le Strange {Palestine under the Moslems, page 550), which should be modified in the way
above-mentioned.

I One might also be inclined to consider the claims of /ibia, which is about five Roman
miles from Jefneh (Jufna), but this village is to the north-west of Jefneh, and so not on the
road to Nablus.

296

Arch(roiogical Re sc air lies in Palestine.

Scale 4z

The first group consists of three rectangular bases, with fragments of
shafts adhering, two of which at least look as if they had been meant to lean
against a support. I had them turned over, and discovered
on the broken shaft of one of them some traces of an in-
scription, but unluckily I could not manage to make it out,
as the shades of night were coming on. M. Lecomte made
a drawing of it, showing the letters .... EG . . . . FR
(perhaps Legio X Fretensis, or /egatns Aug. proprcetore ?).
On the base itself is carved a kind of symbol, but I could
not determine the nature of it. There are also six small
holes, nearly equidistant from each other, which seem to point further to the
existence of some object affixed, which has'now disappeared.

As for the rest, my notes were hastily made on a dark night, and are
in a state of great confusion. I content myself with reproducing them, and
do not answer for their exactness : —

— Group I : Five bases and three or four fragments of bases, in addition to
a large piece of a shaft with a fragment of base adhering ; remains of an
inscription on one ; a fragment of a shaft, inscribed.

— Group 2 : Three or four bases and some shafts ; these I could not get
turned over.

Group 3 : Four bases ; we had a lot of trouble in finding them in the
darkness. Here follow drawings made by M. Lecomte of three other columns,
but I cannot state to which group each belongs : —

t;^^—-

ROMAN MILESTONES NEAR TAIYIBEH. Scale Jj,

From Jcntsalciii to Scbastc [Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 297

It is highly desirable that the study of these interesting monuments
should be resumed. A careful examination would be sure to lead to the
discovery of inscriptions which would be extremely interesting. I commend
this search to the explorers of the future. This extraordinary accumulation
of milestones at one spot is not unique in Palestine. I have noticed the
same thing near Beit Jibrin,* and other places.

Ophrah.- — ^I shall not here discuss the question of the identity of
Taiyibeh with Ophrah, much as there is to be said on the matter, but will
confine myself to a few short observations on points of detail. One of the
principal arguments that have been relied on to support this identification is
the passage in the Onomasticon, s.v. 'A(f)pd, which speaks of a village called
'A(f)p-qk, Effrem, five miles east of Bethel. It has been generally concluded
without hesitation that the spot alluded to by the Onoviasticon was the Ophrah
of Joshua xviii, 23; but it remains to be shown that it was not Happarah, a
place mentioned in the same verse. As for the origin and real meaning of
the Arabic name Taiyibeh, which is to be met with more than once in the
toponymy of Palestine, we ought perhaps to bear in mind this fact, that the
surname Taiyibeh is given to the town of Medineh. This surname, which
means properly "the perfumed," is derived from the presence of the tomb of
the Prophet, who is buried there, and the very old idea that the tombs of
the saints exhale a divine perfume. This notion is also contained in the
familiar expression, "to die in the odour of sanctity." It may be that in the
ancient town, whatever it may be, that Taiyibeh represents, there was at one
period some celebrated tomb which won for it the characteristic surname also
borne by the various other places of the same name. It has been supposed
that Taiyibeh was a translation of Ophrah, but I greatly doubt it ; first,
because of the want of distinction about the name Taiyibeh, which, according
to this explanation, would fit a number of other Ophrahs of the same name ;
and next, because no proof has ever been given of the supposition commonly
made to suit the requirements of the case, that HlSy comes from a root
having meanings akin to those of the Arabic word Taiyibeh, " the good," or
as I think "the perfumed." The play on words in Micah i, 10, on the name
of Ophrah, Afrah, seems to connect it with afai-, " dust " [cf. ^-^)- The Arab
geographer Yakut speaks of a place as existing in the province of Palestine
called o^ 'Ifrd. This name would represent with great exactness that
of the Bible town, but unfortunately he gives no clue as to its e.xact position.

* See further on.

298 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

There is a place, Khi'irbet 'Afriteh, which might do, only it is up near Yetma,
much too far north to be a town of Benjamin. The name of it, l~^_ls^i which
signifies, to all appearance, "the female demon," would represent very closely
the name of Ophrah, which also belongs to a town of Manasseh, and perhaps
belonged to other towns not mentioned in the Bible.

— We passed the night at Taiyibeh, and departed from there next morning,
directing our course north-north-east. As we left the village I noticed an
edifice of ancient appearance, with sloping walls and stones with bossages
at the corners, called by the common-place name of el Boberiyeh.

— We passed successively xkixow^ Deir* Jerir ; by Kufiir Malek, the ethnic
of which is JMaFchi, plural Jllawdrchc/i, having a sanctuary dedicated to
Neby Shentdil ; and by Khiirbet Jaradeh. Our road lay through a regular
forest of fig-trees loaded with delicious fruit. I had been told of an inscription
hereabouts, but it turned out to be simply a capital ornamented with a cross
and rosettes.

— We reached Khiirbet Si', the site of an important town which once
extended over a pair of hills. Here were quantities of fragments of mouldings,
and at the top cuttings in the rock for presses. Near Kh. Si' is Kh. et
Tardmeseh, "the ruin of the inhabitants of Turmus 'Ayd," also called K/i.
el Bdlid, "the ruin of the presses. "t

We saw in the distance, to the east, Mughayir ; ethnic M'ghetrdwy, plural
M'gheirdzviye/i. Between Mughayir and Domeh they pointed out to me
Khiirbet Jeb'it (ci^-a-ia,?-) and Kh. el Mardjein. Jeb'it, which is written in the
Name Lists (p. 255), wrongly I \ki\vik, Jibeit, k^jc?- ("the hollow thing, or
the idol"), belongs to the numerous class of ancient Hebrew place-names
connected with the root i^lJl.
- — ■ Towards noon we reached the ruins of Kefr Istuna, where we were to

* I am sure I heard it called De'ir, not Dar.

t Plural of hadd, a word that freiiuently recurs in the toponymy of Palestine, and has been
wrongly rendered '■idol" {Name Lists, passim). Major Conder {Stalcinent, 1889, p. 134) recognized
its real meaning, which is familiar enough to all who have travelled in Palestine. I shou'd add,
that, like so many others of the fellahin speech, it is an old Aramaic word : "1^, i^~Q, Tli
iadd, badda, baddad, "press, especially for olives;" ^ilil^' N~1"'"I"I2. bedida, bodida, "small
press;" "Iin T^l^ beith hab-bad, "the building where the press is." In Syriac bado has the
same meaning ; the Syriac lexicographers, among others Bar Bahloul, who sets down expressly
the Arabic equivalent, ji.i , say that it is properly " ea pars torcularis qua descendit in id quod
pieinenduin est." The word is probably akin to the Hebrew badd, "tree, wooden bar" (the vectes
for carrying the Ark), and must originally have denoted the lever by the aid of which pressure
is applied.

From Jerusalem to Sebaste [Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 299

lunch ; but not a drop of water was to be found. Our guide having ventured
into the wely, which was full of chopped straw [tebai) came out at once in a
fright, his legs literally encased with fleas. The ancient remains visible at
Kefr Istuna have been so often described that I need not again refer to them.
Remarkable as they are, especially from the size of the component materials,
they nevertheless lose somewhat of their interest since it has been definitely
proved that Kefr Istuna cannot be, as was for a long time supposed, the
fortress of Alexandreion, which in reality is far distant, at K'rein Sartaba
(Kurn Surtiibeh), near Karawa (the A'(?;r«/ of Josephus, where Judaea began).
So Kefr Istuna, which was beyond doubt an ancient town of some importance,
again becomes available for a fresh identification.

Seilun. — From here we proceeded to Seilun. I noticed en route some
more peculiarities of the fellahin speech : the frequent use of the verb bahhar
"u, in the sense of " to look, seek ;" the use of zvdhi and viaiyeli in the sense
of "much," etc. The seldrn 'aleiknm, which in the south is exclusively
reserved for salutations among Mussulmans, is here addressed to Mussulmans
and Christians without distinction.

At Seilun we found the ndtdr of Kuriyut (Keriut), who was there to
guard the fields of dura [d'ra). The inhabitants of Keriut, he told me, were
formerly settled at Seilun, and left that place in the time of Ibrahim Pasha.

T" '

- .\\m\\v

j.\me' el arba'in.

We examined the strange edifice generally called Jdme' cl Arba'tn, "the
Mosque of the Forty." The natur called \\. Jdme es Si'ttin, " the Mosque of
the Sixty." Inside we noticed two fine capitals. Here is a view of the

2 Q 2

300

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

building- made by M. Lecomte. It has been too often described by travellers
for me in my turn to describe it. In common with most archceoloqists, I
think we can detect in it the remains of an ancient synagogue which has been
altered at various periods.

Here is a detailed drawing of the carved lintel placed over the door :

CARVED i.iNTEi, AT jame' EI, arba'in. Scale J^.

The vase'" between two wreaths and two altars, recalls an exactly similar
motive on the reliefs of the large vase from the caverns of the Via Dolorosa,
described in Volume I.

Opposite the Jame' is a large sarcophagus-lid with acroteria, which
M. Lecomte also made a drawing of:

' j!f'//] '^^f^wp^^^

sarcophagus lid at seilCn. Scale -V.

Another and not less remarkable building goes by the name of Jame el
Yetdim (^^UjJ\). The first probably represents the Mesjed es Sekineh, " the
Mosque of the Ark,"t and the second perhaps the Hajar el MdideJi, "the
Stone of the Table," which 'Aly el Herewy locates at Seilun.J This

*■ In M. Lecomte's drawing the vase appears with only one handle. I beheve, though I
will not vouch for it, that this detail is accurate.

t Or, more exactly " of the Divine Presence in the Ark."

X Archives de F Orient Latin, I, p. 600; cf. Le Strange, Palestine under ttie Mostems, p. 527.
As has long been known, the Selzhieli of Mussulman tradition, which was enclosed in the Ark, was
directly borrowed from the S/iet;kina of Judaism, where it is properly a more or less metaphysical
conception of ilie real presence of God. In Arab belief the seldneti has turned into a quaint con-
crete notion, recently the subject of an interesting study by Prof. Goldziher {Revue de rhistoire des
religions, 1893, tome ii, p. i, etc.). I will add that this divine emanation, with all the fantastic
details with which the Koran and the IiadWis embellish it, appears to me to have borrowed
certain features both from \k\tt:erub and the /yi!'(7(/ of the Hebrews, the latter (the ci^a, or "glory,"
of the Septuagint) seeming to have originally been the counterpart of the Egyptian winged disc.

From Jerusalem to Sehaste [Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 301

Mussulman tradition, which is connected with the stay of the Arlc at Shiloh,
seems to have disappeared. It was still in existence in the time of the Jewish
geographer Esthori Ha-Parchi, who says: "This place still contains a vault,
called n;"i3D h^ nilp ("the cupola of the Ark"), and, near it, a place called
JMaida (^Tlr^Q),* i.e., "the tables of the Children of Israel."t

We explored some thirty tombs in the necropolis of ancient Shiloh, in
hopes of finding some inscription, but without result.

— From Seiliin we went up to the spring of 'Ain Seilun. Over the spring
is an enormous mass of rock that has become detached from the mountain and
has rolled down as far as there. It appears to have formed the back wall
of a large sepulchral chamber, having a pair of arcosolia covering two trough-
shaped tombs separated by a pilaster.

^i^^^y^ii^TJjfff/M^^ "'" "

Elevation. Transverse Section.

ANCIENT ROCK TOMB AT "aIN SEII.Cn. Scale -jL.

The two troughs are furnished with head-rests formed by leaving a
portion of the rock uncut, each placed the same way. In the upper part is
what appears to be the remains of a third trough hewn out in the roof:

/ -o

(- '

^ (

■ ^1 I

"'^^^-^Um^iAi^^

View from above. Scale -r'n

I can only make passing allusion to these curious relations, and will content m5-self with remarking
that one of the gates of the Haram at Jerusalem even at the present day goes by the name of
" Gate of the Sekineh {Bab es SeMne/i)." This name was not given it yesterday either, for it is men-
tioned not only by Mujir ed Din, but by the pilgrim Naser ed Din Khosrau previous to the arrival
of the Crusaders. This gate is the one adjoining the gate Bab es Selseleh, on the western front.

* These words are exact transcriptions of the Arabic iAjiLull LJ and i'joU.

t Zunz, On tJie GcograpJiy of Palestine, forming an appendix to the Itinerary of Benjamin of
Tudela (Asher's edition) II, p. 435.

302 Archceological Researches in Palestine.

This third trough seems to have been transformed later on into a sort
of small reservoir, with a short conduit for letting off the water. There are
further noticeable some fifteen holes,* several of which go right through the
ceiling. This is perhaps the place where Jewish mediaeval tradition was
inclined to locate the tomb of Eli the high-priest and of his two sons.

A considerable number of the inhabitants of Keriut were round about
the spring. In my conversation with them I was struck with the way in
which they pronounce the long «'s, which in their mouths become regular o's..
They say, for instance, 'ajjan/, or 'ajjol, for 'ajjd/, "cattle-drover." This
Aramaising vocalization is an interesting archaism, and explains why in the
Greek inscriptions of Syria the alpha is often replaced by the oniicron.

Jdltld. — We arrived at Jalud at five o'clock. The inhabitants received
us well, especially an aged fellah, Sabbah en Naser by name, who was
neatly dressed in the style of an Effendi. He had served as a soldier
under Ibrahim Pasha ; he spoke Turkish quite fluently ; and was delighted
to be able to converse with me in that language. The town, he told me,
was a fortified place, and was once surrounded by a wall of circumvallation.
It was tJie town of Jdliit, zvho zvas killed by David. It once belonged to
Abraham, who has a makam there. Right on the edge of the plateau on
which the village is situated we were shown the entrance to a tomb that had
been opened a few years before. There was a stone door accurately hung,
and inside a chamber with three arches covering over some ran (" burial
troughs ") closed with stone lids. The entrance to this curious tomb being
quite stopped up, I arranged with the courteous old fellow to have it
re-opened. It was agreed that we should come by Jalud again next day, and
that — iti slid Allah ! — we should find the clearance effected.

'Akrabd i^Akrabeli). — From here we set off to 'Akraba, which I had
selected as our abode for the night. The pronunciation is 'Akrabd L, Jix , not
'Akrabeh hjis.- The ethnic is 'Akrabdny, plural 'Akdrbeh. (See p. 304.)

Next morning we visited the mosque. The inside of it was transformed
for the time being into a workroom for plaiting mats. According to local
tradition the place was originally a church ; the correctness of this is shown
by the presence of various ancient remains. I noticed built into the enclosure
some fine carved capitals and a small square moulded cippus, like those at

* Carmoly, Itineraires, pp. 186, 250. The holes perhaps served for the illuminations spoken
of by Isaac Chelo.

From Jerusalem to Sebasie {Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 303

Palmyra. At the entrance an ancient lintel, used as the left upright of the
present door, bears a Greek inscription, much mutilated unfortunately. I
append a copy :

\i !■ "■':'.,.

" .111 -- ■\--::.> -■ y

I'- , • •.".;'■,■' ill, -■ -I I,'' '■.'i'..- i|'-.rt|V-' ;'

■:'■'•■" ■ '.'■'■'■"' ' •!:;! -■:'■> -. ..''iitui,; ,^

GREEK INSCRIl'TKlN A I AKRAH A.

The average space between the letters is a centimetre. The lintel and
the inscription have been cut almost exactly in half. Above the line there is
a carved ornamentation of a geometrical nature. The cross at the end of the
line marks the termination of the inscription, a Christian one of course. The
whole of the left portion, bearing the beginning of the inscription, is wanting.
I found a fragment of it built in upside down over a small square niche inside
the building facing the door.

This fragment, as is shown by the similarity of the ornamentation and
the shape of the letters, evidently forms part of the beginning of the inscrip-
tion. On placing the two fragments end to end, and comparing my copy
with the transcription given in the Memoirs (II, p. 389), I am tempted to
read as follows :

. . v^a. . . Iv Tfo dyi'w iTToi7]cra vnep crv/xySiov Koi \_Tje[_KV^O}V. >J<

in the holy .... I have made, for my husband and my children."

Just near 'Akraba is e/ Heusen {el Hosn), which, as its name and the
appearance of the ruins indicate, is an ancient fortress.

The fellahin of 'Akraba have kept alive the memory of a famous governor
who resided at 'Akraba and was called el Kdciery. He lived in the times of
Jezzar Pasha, say some, in the times of the Kuffdr, say others. He erected
some considerable buildings. His authority extended as far as Turmus
'Aia, from the Jordan to the Nablus road, and in the north to Wad el Bidan,
in the direction of Telluza. There may perhaps be in this tradition a more or
less accurate reminiscence of the ancient toparchy of Acrabatena and its
boundaries, which were Samaria on the north and the toparchy of Gophna on
the south.

Jdlud. — Ne.xt morning we started back to Jalud. On the hill facing

304

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

'Akraba on the south-south-west I noticed several rock-hewn tombs, with a
small arched porch over a square door.

We found our friend Sabbah en Naser, who was engaged in clearing out
the entrance to the tomb at Jalud, as he had undertaken to do the night
before. The operation was carried out under our inspection, and we were
soon enabled to penetrate into the tomb. It consists of a rectangular chamber
with three arcosolia on three of the walls, placed over funerary troughs, which
are covered with slabs laid crosswise. In these we found a few bones still

remammg

_r— )■/ ^-':

Plan.

Section on A B.

ROCK TOMB AT jai.i)d. Scale -1 J-p.

In the right-hand corner as you go in is a small rectangular ditch,
admitting to a lower chamber. This I was unable to explore, as it would have
taken much work to clear it. I am sorry for this, as I
might perhaps have made a good find there. I picked
up there a small bronze object, but cannot now identify
it, owing to a lacuna in my notes.

The most interesting peculiarity about this tomb
is the existence of the stone door that shuts it in.
This is a regular shutter of stone, which turns easily
even now on its upper and lower hinges. Here
are two more detailed drawings, which will give an
accurate idea of the shape of this door and the way
it works.

Various Notes. — Here are the various bits of information that I took
down from the mouth of Sabbah en Naser :

SWIfiGING STONE DOOR
ill silu AT JAI.UD.

Sc.ile ^.

Scale

From Jerusalem to Sebaste [SainaiHa), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 305

— There is at Nablus a stone with writing on it, which was brought from
Balka three years ago for the governor. It is deposited with the bakkdl
Ahmed 'Othman Hamameh, near Bab el Jame' el K'bir esh Sharky."

— There is at Hareth the tomb of Neby Kefil, which is the genuine one,
the other shown in the direction of 'Akrabat being unauthentic. From him
the village is called Kefil Hareth, which is its proper name.

— ■ Seilun.j Between the two mosques is a dried-up birkeh, where, according
to the ahddith or "canonical traditions" of the Mussulmans, the maidak,
"table," of Jesus came down from heaven to his apostles.

— The mosque at Seilun is properly calledy«;;// es Sittrn and not el Arbdin.
This queer name, "the Mosque of the Sixty," instead of "the Forty," — a
name established by usage (the Forty Martyrs) — might very well, 1 think, be
a mere corruption of sekineh^ "the Ark." This name, as I have shown,
belonged to the sanctuary of Shiloh in the ancient Jewish and Mussulman
traditions.

— The ancient King of Jalud was called yrt/??(ycz ,■ he it was that was slain by
David. He also built the fortress there and gave his name to the town.

— Some of the places in the neighbourhood :

— KImrbet el Chirieh {^J^\)-

— Kh. Sard (not "Sarra").

— Near this latter, in the direction of [ebel el Leii/if [}), towards the east:
K/i. EkJineifis (y^J^jJ^), "the little Scarabseus ;"

— A7/. 'Ar/it, a vulgar pronunciation of 'Afrit (for Kh. 'Afriteli).
Boundaries of the Territories of Ndbliis and Jerusalem. — This, says my

informant, is where the boundary passes that separates the territory of
Jerusalem from that of Nablus, from east to west :

The Jordan, el 'Audja, M'ghayir, Seilun, el Lubban, 'Ammuriyeh, Khiirbet
Keis, Farkha, Deir Balluta, Mejdel es Sadek (another name of Mejdel Yaba),
Jeljulieh, Kufur Saba, J'lil and the Haram of 'Aly ben 'Euleil.

All these boundary marks belong to the territory of Nablus. This line,
which at several points fails to coincide with the present official boundary-line,
doubtless has a traditional value, and corresponds to a more or less ancient
state of things. It should be taken into account in studying the vexed

* See later on (p. 317) for this inscription, which I actually found in the house indicated.

t Sabbah en Naser was certainly thinking of the sanctuary of cl Kifil Aim 'Ainiinir, between
'Akraba and JCirish, and in the immediate vicinity of the latter village.

X See supra, p. 299. § See supra, p. 300. /■ and / arc easily

interchangeable in the dialect of the fellahin.

2 K

3o6 Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

problem of the boundaries of Samaria and Judaea, which in certain parts at
any rate can hardly have varied. It agrees tolerably well with the boundary
between the province of Nablus and the province of Jerusalem as given by
Mujir ed Din :*

"Sinjil, 'Arzen, both belonging to the territory of Jerusalem, and the
head of the Wady Beni Zeid, belonging to the territory of Ramleh." Sinjil
and the territory of Beni Zeid (to the north of Neby Saleh) are perfectly well
known. This is not the case with 'Arzen, which is certainly a mutilated
name ; one MS. has 'Arun. My opinion is that the two readings, ^^y^ and
^si_f--> are equally faulty and should be corrected to ij^y^ or '^y^j^i Antra,
a village to the south of K/mrbet Kets.\ This 'Ariira appears to me to
be none other than the 'Apovep, Amir, alluded to in the Onomasticon as being
twenty Roman miles north of Jerusalem. It is also perhaps the problematical
'Apovpd which Josephus has in view in his Ant. Jitd. (p. 344 of Haverkampf's
edition), where he follows the Septuagint version of i Sam., x.\ii, 6.

— According to a saying that I heard a little further on, the inhabitants
of Jalud never live to be more than fifty.

— From here we went to Keriiit (Kuriyut), which is divided into two
quarters, one called the Deir. I was not able to make any observations there,
as the Government aq-ents were eno;aofed in extracting the tenth, or rather
eighth, from the fellahin

Vdstif. — We passed hurriedly through Yasiif. According to an ancient
tradition related by the Arab geographers of the Middle Ages, J Seilun was
the dwelling-place of Jacob, and the pit is not far distant where Joseph was
thrown by his brothers " between Sinjil and Nablus, on the right of the road."
What can the place be that the legend points to .-* It is quite at variance with
the one current at the present day, which attaches to Jubb Ytisef to the
north of the Sea of Tiberias. I am inclined to believe that it is Ydsuf, which
is on the right of the road as you go, not from Sinjil to Nablus, but from

* Bulak, Arabic text, p. 340.

t I should, however, state that I find mention in my note-book of a Merj 'Eurzcul,
"meadow of 'Eurzeul," extending to the west of Sinjil, to the north of El Burj, to the south of
el Lubban, as far as abreast of 'Abwein. Can I have heard the name aright ? The Map inserts
it under the form 'Erzy. If the form 'Eurzeul J;^ really exists, one would be inclined to
see in it the name of 'Arzen.

X Clermont-Ganneau, Recueil d' Arclieologie orientate, 1888, I, p. 332. Cf. Le Strange,
Palestine tinder tlie Moslems, pp. 465, 477, 527.

From Jerusalem to Scbaste [Samaria), and from Scbaste to Gaza. 307

Nablus to Sinjil. The name of this village, which is also borne by a neigh-
bouring wady,* is written i_i^~lj.> and it appears in Samaritan documents in the
form nOD'^ Yusepheh. It is probably the mere name of this locality that has
attracted and fixed there the legend of Joseph, and it may be that when the
Mussulman pilgrim 'Aly el Herewy says : " I was assured, &c.," he alluded
to some more or less fanciful tradition that he got from the Samaritans.

JMerdd. — At Merda I noted in passing a sanctuary consecrated to a
certain Neby Ithiria (UyU or Uy) ; I cannot account for the origin of this
strange name. According to the fellahtn, Merda was formerly, in the time of
the Romans, a bcled (town) as large as Nablus. There was a butcher

[tah/idm) who gave his name to a large kh ;t he used to kill forty

sheep every Friday before noonday prayer. The place is spoken of in the
old Arab geographers. Mujir ed Din mentions \t\ a propos of another
neighbouring village ed Deir, which is probably Deir Istia. The name seems
to me to be of Aramaic origin, and to be connected with the Syriac merdo,
" fortress. "§

Kefer Hares. — We stopped the night at Kefer Hares. The Sheikh,
under a pretence of protecting us against thieves, insisted on thrusting the
company of two fellahin upon us.

In order to keep themselves awake, our moukres spent the whole of the
night in intoning their interminable but not unpleasing ya left, accompanied
by the agreeable piping of a flute played by a young virtuoso of the village.
In addition to this, a blindlngly bright moon made our tent as light as day,
so, taking it altogether, it was not a restful night.

The mosque of the village, which is graced with the name of Jame', has
in its walls a few large blocks apparently ancient. I remarked among them
a wide arched bay with its archivolt ornamented with those kind of canaliculi
or tablets which are met with on the mediaeval archivolts of Yebna (see
pp. 171, 180) and various other buildings in Palestine. There are besides this
three other sanctuaries :

* I }j.^b jL in the Name Lists, p. 249, must be an error for (_Jj--l.; J\j {<■'/■ P- 250).

t The word is illegible in my note-book; I think it is Khallcf, "valley."

% Bulak, Arabic text, p. 560, i_>J_<:.

§ The word merdo is used, for instance, to denote the fortress of Acra, at Jerusalem.
Compare the names of towns Marde, Mard'in, &c., and other places with similar names near
Aleppo, in Mesopotamia, and in Adiabene. There is a locality exactly homonymous, TiU
Merda, in Galilee, to the north-west of Teirshiha, and quite near il.

2 R 2

3o8 Archcrolooical Researches 'in Palestine.

(i) That of Neby LSslid, consisting of a Kubbeh sheltered by a great
terebinth and fronted by a small courtyard. In one of the corners of the
inner room, the walls of which are bare, there is an antique marble capital.
In the courtyard, facing you as you go in, there is an Arabic inscription in
Neskhy character, built into the wall. It is cut on a stone with a rough
surface, but finely grained, looking something like a page of manuscript with
an ornamented border. There is said to be a cave underneath the chamber,
and, in fact, when you strike the ground in the south-east corner it sounds
hollow.

(2) The Kubbeh of Neby Kefil, with a large cenotaph of masonry.

(3) The Sanctuary of Neby Nun, consisting of a cenotaph like the
preceding, but lying open to the sky, the holy man having never consented,
in spite of all temptations, to let a building be erected over his tomb.

These three nebys, say the fellahin, belong to the same family : Kefil
is the father of Nun, who himself is the father of Losha'. It has been long
recognized that Losha' (V Usha'), son of Nun, was none other than Joshua, the
son of Nun, whose tomb is in fact located in the village by Samaritan and
Jewish mediaeval tradition. As for Kefil, whom the legend manages to connect
genealogically with Joshua and Nun, he, according to the Samaritans, is
Caleb, the companion in arms of Joshua. Kefil, it would seem, is an alteration
from Caleb, pronounced Calev, Calef. This name, thus transformed, has
reacted in turn on the name of the village, which is often called Keftl Hares,
instead of Kefer Hares. It is possible that the word Refer itself may have
had a disturbing influence on the form Caleb.

Mujir ed Din* says that among the sons of Job there was one called
Bashar, and surnamed Zu 7 Kefil {Klfl, Kef el), whose makam is at Damascus,
and whose tomb is in the village of Kefil Hares, in the territory of Nablus.
I found no traces existing on the spot of this fabulous personage. Elsewhere
he says (p. 94) that Joshua was buried in the village of Kefil Hareth (the
name is written this time ^ij U. instead of j_^,l:>.).t

Tell Hareth — In the distance, to the south-west, is seen Tell Hareth,
which was formerly a town of the Jews [medinet el YaJmd). Here are still
visible some remains of ancient structures called Karat Hd^-eth, " the fortress
of Hareth." A hidden treasure exists there, and an enchanted spring.

* P. 68 of the Bulak Arabic text.

t The same discrepancy is existing to-day in the pronunciation of the name I/dres or
Hareth.

From Jerusalem to Scbastc {Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 309

— At Deir Istia is a Neby Istia.

— To the south-east of Karawa is the Ddr edh-dharb* which was once an
old mint worked by the Rums.

— The tobacco of Kefr Hares is in great repute.

Jemmdin. — Next morning we set out in the direction of Nablus. At
Jemma'in we met an old bitdr, "veterinary surgeon," who had come to attend
to some cows, and was going back to Nablus in company with his son. They
proposed to travel along with us, and I accepted with alacrity, being only too
glad to find some one to talk to by the way.

— To the north of Zita is a place in ruins, called Khiirbet Tafsa.

Fardis. — We left to the right of our route the small wely of Fardis
{^j^:iji), to the south of which is R'weisiin (^^*^;j ,),t and we halted for lunch
at 'Ain 'Abus.

'Aiverta. — At 'Awerta, or 'Awertah, we visited the three sanctuaries
where Mussulman tradition perpetuated the Jewish and Samaritan legends.
The first is sacred to Sheikh eTOzeir, called also by some Abu '1 'Ozeir. In
the middle of a large courtyard, with a sort of vestibule open to the sky in
front of it, stands an enormous cenotaph, with a triangular lid with acroteria ;
it appears to have been originally constructed of hewn stones, now disfigured
by a thick coating of white plaster.

— — rp-nf --TTTi^i^^i

Side elevation.

Elevation of tlie sliort side C.
CENOTAPH AT " AWERTA. Scale jljj.

The base must be more than half sunk below the present level of the
o-round. Close to it, on the south side, a small rectangular opening let into
the pavement of the court admits of a small recess constructed of masonrj-,
with a slighdy arched ceiling. This belonged likely enough to an ancient

* Literally "the house of the coining;" the name is written Deir ed Dab on the Map, and
is explained as " the Monastery of the Road " in the Name Lists.
t Sh. Ahmed el Fiirddis, and (?) Kh. 'Azzihi in the Map.

310

Archcsological Researches in Palestine.

FRAGMENT OF COLUMN AT 'AWERTA.

Scale T77-

sepulchral chamber. There are built into the walls four Samaritan inscrip-
tions, or fragments of such, on marble slabs. One bears, in Arabic, the date
Ramadan, 1185, and is carefully cut. The characters are in relief, as also are

those of the other two inscriptions. There is
one quite small fragment, with sunken characters,
that looked to me of somewhat older date.

In the enclosure I noticed a fine bit of
moulding, undoubtedly antique.

In the village itself is the mosque [Jdaie')
of c/ Mans/tr, with a Samaritan inscription in
relief and a large cenotaph of masonry-work,
after the manner of the preceding.

Lower down is the wely of e/ Mofadhcihal,
" the Jew."

Lastly, to the north of the village, is the sanctuary of El 'Oseirdl, the
burial-place of seventy-seven yJi^V/(75)', "champions."

According to the fellahin, el 'Ozeir is the son of Hariin and the father of
el Mansur ; el Mofadhdhal is brother to el 'Ozeir. They are in harmony with
the ancient Mussulman tradition, for Mujir ed Din locates at 'Awerta the
tomb of el 'Eizar, son of Harun, and Yakut that of el 'Ozeir, that of
Mofadhdhal, son of the uncle of Harun {sic), and those of the seventy
prophets, who correspond to the seventy-seven M'ghazy of el 'Ozeirat. The
seventy prophets represent the seventy old men, or elders of Israel,* in Jewish
mediaeval tradition ; el 'Ozeir or el 'Eizar, son of Harun, is Eleazar (third son
of Aaron) ; his brother el Mofadhdhal is Ithamar, brother of Aaron, whose
tomb was actually pointed out by Jewish tradition at 'Awerta, in the lower
part of the village ; while el Mansur, son of el 'Ozeir, is Phinehas, son of
Eleazar.

Nablus.

We reached Nablus a little before sundown, and stayed there four days,
from the Monday evening to the Saturday morning. My investigations were
limited to certain matters of detail, and I will give a succinct account of these,
omitting other most important matters which I could only superficially

* Cf- Numbers xi, 16, 24.

From Jeritsalevi to Sebasfc {Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza. 3 1 1

examine. The reader must therefore excuse the fragmentary and imperfect
nature of these notes. It would have been easy to swell them to a great
bulk, by following my numerous predecessors in the fruitless discussion of the
various problems connected with the history or topography of this ancient city
and its immediate vicinity.

Inside NAblus.

Jdme el Kebir. — We did not make a plan of the great mosque, which
is an ancient church built or adapted by the Crusaders. On examining
the great mediaeval doorway of the east front, and noticing how the order of
the stones was disarranged, we wondered whether it had at some later period
been taken down and put up again on the east side. This was merely a
casual notion, and I give it with due reserve. The church is altogether
disfigured, and the inside is covered over with whitewash, and adorned with
various coloured paints in the worst possible taste. I am sorry we had no
time left to make a plan of the building. We could have managed it in spite
of the proverbial fanaticism of the Mussulmans of Nablus, having won them
over by correcting with the aid of a compass the orientation of their mihrabs.
I discovered a small Greek inscription cut on a Corinthian capital surmounting
the second column in the north row. The capital has been painted afresh,

AOYKIOY lAKXOY

Aou/ctou \6.Kyov,
"of Lucius lacchus."

CAPITAL WITH INSCRIPTION IN MOSQUE AT NABLUS.

and the letters are picked out in black. Below, on the volute of the left hand,
is carved a B, which I look upon as a numeral with the value "two." It
must be an ordinal number indicating the place of the capital and the column
belonging, in the architectural scheme of which they formed part. This
inscription is probably a dedication, to the effect that Lucius lacchus paid the
cost of the column and its capital, which are destined for some religious edifice.
There are examples of these partial anathemata. The shape of the capital
and of the characters of the inscription point to the Grteco-Roman period.*

* In an inscription cut on the shaft of a column at Rakhleh (Waddington, I/iscr. gr. et lat.
de la Syrie, No. 2557d), and dating from the year 404 of the Seleucids (82 a.d.), there appears
the name of one BrixxL'"^] -^ovkiov, who seems also to have dedicated this column.

312

ArcJicrological Researches in Palestine.

Possibly an attentive search would bring to light similar inscriptions on
the other capitals that have been utilised in building the great mosque of
Nablus.

Below the minaret, in the inside of the courtyard, a long Kufic inscription
is cut. I took a squeeze of this. All the outer walls of the great mosque are
full of stones with mediaeval tool marks and with masons' marks, which we
made a note of {See Special Table, Vol. I.)

A little further on, on the side that does not look over the bazaar, are
remains of an edifice with stones bearing mediseval tool marks with extremely
fine strokes. I took a squeeze of a specimen.

Jdnie' en Nascr. — This mosque is an ancient church with three aisles,
regularly orientated and in a good state of preservation. Unfortunately
the whole of the interior is covered with a thick coating of mortar, which
prevents the dressing of the stones from being seen, and fills up all the
architectural details. The present entrance is by the central apse, where the
Arabs have made a new door which opens on to the street, and from which
you go down into the mosque by a flight of six steps. The arches are
pointed. The walls of the aisles are each pierced with five narrow windows
with wide reveals. I made a note of some projecting buttresses between
these windows, but they do not appear on the following plan, which was made
by M. Lecomte on the basis of our observations : —

I'LAN OK JaMe' en NASER, NABLUS. Scale j^^

Front Jerusalem to Scbastc {Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF JAME' EN NASER. Scale -jig.

The middle aisle, which is higher than the side aisles, is separated from
them by two rows of square pillars and of columns surmounted by capitals of
the Doric style. The columns C, D, E, F are of red granite, and are in two
pieces. Under the columns E, F are circular discs, one of ordinary stone, the
other of marble. A moulded string-course runs completely round the inside
of the building on a level with the spring of the higher arches. The primitive
door was on the west side. On the flags that cover the ground 1 noticed in
several places the mediaeval tool marks, as also on the steps of a staircase
leading to a high gallery set up to meet the requirements of Mussulman
worship in the north aisle. The church in its final form must have been built
by the Crusaders, but the depth of the central apse, as well as the character of
certain architectural features, would incline me to the belief that they erected
it on the ruins of an ancient Byzantine church, and were guided by its previous
arrangement.

Jdme' {Jdmia') el JMasdkin. — " The Lepers' Mosque," is in an ancient
structure with large arches seemingly mediaeval. The leprosy of Nablus in
no way falls short of that of Jerusalem in the hideous aspect of the sufferers
and the interest aroused by their frightful sores. The lepers of Nablus are
under the command of a sheikh, who is himself not afflicted with the
disease. A native Christian who accompanied us on this repulsive visit,
assured me seriously that the horrible disease was exclusively confined to
the Mussulmans ; but 1 have my doubts as to the correctness of this
observation. In a stable was a horse said to be likewise afflicted with
leprosy !

Habs ed Dam.'* — -Two pointed arches arranged at right angles, one

* Literally "the prison or cell of blood." In consequence of my notes being disarranged, I
am not absolutely sure that this one applies to the drawings that accompany it, but in any case
the latter are representations of an edifice we saw at Nablus.

314

ArcJuroloi^ical Researches in Pales due.

open, the other blocked up. The arch stones of the arches and the
blocks on the facade ha\'e tlat bossages, and are pock-marked, with small

delicate tool marks, not diagonal, round
the edees. Above the two arcades is a
twin ogive bay, the two archivolts of
which rest on a small column with capital
and base, and on a cornice which is
extended right and left along the fa^ide.
In one of the angles is a small spring
of water.

Ma/iall Uldd Neby YdMb.—K
modern mosque, opposite Bmvdb cl Unbid
(" the gate of the Prophets "), marking the
spot, according to Mussulman legend,
where the ten sons of Jacob are buried.

Opposite, on the other side of the
street, is the Khdn ez Z'bib, with a lofty
ogive arch in the middle of a wall of
bossed stones, and e.xactly resembling in
style that at Habs ed Dam.

Hizn Sidnd Ya'kitb (called also el
KhadJird). — At the entrance, stones with
the mediaeval tool marks. Three large
ogive bays with moulded archivolts. The arch of the mihrab is adorned
with handsome carvings. There is an Arabic inscription in so-called Car-
mathic characters. To the right of the great chamber where the mihrab
is they show a small room where Jacob wept for the loss of Joseph,
whence the name of the sanctuary, "the sadness of our lord Jacob."
In this place the soil sounds hollow to the tread. At the base of the
minaret a long Samaritan inscription is built in. I took a squeeze of
this, as also of two other small and imperfect ones (one in the door frame
of an Arab room at the foot of the minaret, unfortunately plastered up with
lime ; the other in the opposite wall, low down, and defaced by hammering).

I likewise squeezed a Samaritan inscription consisting of eleven lines in
relief, and mutilated on the right hand side, from the lintel of a door of a
house adjacent to the Hizn Ya'kub ; and another of two lines in relief, in the
house of Sheikh Yusef Zeid, in the street called Hdrt el Ydsininch.

Not far from the Hizn Ya'kub is a spring, ''Ain el'Asel, with excellent

PLAN AND ELEVATION OK HABS ED DAM.

Scale TTm-

From Jc7-nsa/c)n to Scbastc {Saii/an'a), and jrom Sehastc to Gaza. 31

j'D

water that well deserves its name, " the spring of honey." Near there is built
in an ovolo-moulded fragment. M. Lecomte made a sketch of it.

'Aiii Kariihi. — This spring is situated inside the town. It seemed to me
that the name was pronounced Karioii rather \\vA.n Kariun. It is covered over
with a large and curious structure which, according to local tradition, was an
ancient Kutidb, " school." It consists of a high semi-circular arch openino-
over a semi-circular apse. The archivolt, which is ornamented with a
moulding, rests on a cornice, also moulded, which runs round the apse. In
the latter a niche has been subsequently made, to serve as a mihrab. The
cornice is continued to right and left along the facade.

■""^7^Z^^

A Plan. E Elevation. C Section. D Profile of the moulding of the archivolt. E Profile of the cornice.

Scale irn-a-

The stones are fine large blocks, presenting neither the medixn-al nor the
Arab tool marks. The axis of the apse is orientated to the south-west. The
edifice seems not to be of Christian origin, or at any rate not to partake of the
nature of a chapel. Perhaps it was a kind of nymphsum intended to protect
the spring. The latter is copious, and we noticed that there were fish in it.

Sarcophagus.— Ox\ Fridays, at the hour of prayer, while the men are
at the mosque, all the women and girls go out into the streets with faces
uncovered to fill their water jars at the fountains. They gather together and
converse freely in the absence of the men. During this time the shops are
minded by the children, who constitute the police of the public highways, and
chevy without mercy any men they see out of doors. We were indebted to
our being foreigners for being able to cross one of the quarters thus given
over to feminine occupation, the Har't Karion, where I wished to e.xamme an

s 2

,i6

Archceological Researches in Palestine.

ancient sarcophagus that served as a ran, or trough, to a fountain. The
women rather looked askance at us ; but, however, we were suffered to pass.
We owed it to this curious custom that we were able to get a glimpse of some
very pretty female types, under conditions that are rare in Mussulman
countries. The sarcophagus came, I was assured, from near the tomb of
Joseph. Its front side is ornamented with three discs in relief, two of
which display a rather curious decorative idea ; the central disc contains
a rectangular cartouche with triangular ears, where there was perhaps
originally an inscription cut. It is very possible that this inscription may
have been obliterated at the time of the find, and I noticed in fact that the
tool-marks inside the cartouche were rather fresher than those of the other
parts of the sarcophagus, as if the surface had been subsequently worked
over.

Masbanet el Ghazzdivy. — An ancient building of mediaeval origin turned
into a soap-works, as is shown by the name ("the soap-works of the man of
Gaza"). The mediaeval tool-marks appear on the whole of the lower part of

.. 0.16

MEDI/EVAI. SCUl.rTURED STONES AT NABLUS. Scale yL.

the door and a part of the arch that surmounts it, which has a moulded torus
and rabbeted edges. The threshold is formed of two stones of the same
period. Inside are large pillars of hewn stone, with moulded cornices. At
the back is an orientated apse. All the stones display mediaeval tool-marks.
Here (p. 316) are two fragments of the same period built into the outer wall.

One is an engaged dwarf-column from a corner, forming the upright of a
gateway ; the other presents a sort of cross with two cross-pieces, recalling
the type of the so called patriarchal cross.

Ancient JMasbaneh. — Another soap-works, now the oven of Selim Bek,
with a door like that of Khan ez Z'bib. In the (modern) wall opposite, on

From Jerusalem lo Scbastc [Samaria), and from Scbasfc to Gaza. 3 1 7

the other side of the street, there is a fragment of mediaeval cornice built
in, which extends over several yards. Here is a profile of it.

Nabatcean Inscription from the Land of Moab. — I
managed to find the owner of the inscription from the
Balka, which an inhabitant of Jalud had previously mentioned
to me as existing at Nablus.*

After makins some difficulties, the bakkal who had it in Scale j^.

his possession consented to show me into his back-parlour, where he had
hidden it beneath a heap of flour. It was the former governor Mohammed
Said Pasha who had had the stone fetched, and Sheikh R'meih el Faez of
the Beni Sakher that brought it. F"ive hundred mejidiehs was the price
asked. As they could not come to terms, the Sheikh deposited it with
the bakkal.

I recognized at first glance the Nabatsean inscription of Umm er Resas.
of which my Bedouin had brought me a poor squeeze at the time of
the negotiations about the Moabite stone. Delighted to meet this old
acquaintance, I hastened to make a good squeeze.

The stone is a hard basalt, analogous to that of the Moabite stone. It
measures o™-40 high by o"'-38 broad and o"-20 thick. The inscription consists
of five lines, the last of which is mutilated, as are the ends of the four others.
Nevertheless, taking it as a whole, it reads well enough. It is the epitaph
of Abdmalku, son of Obaisu, the strategos, made by his brother Yaamru,
the strategos. I have since shown, in a monograph t to which I can only
refer the reader, that this inscription, which came from the district about
Madeba, was of the greatest value for Jewish history, inasmuch as the
strategos Yaamru must be considered to belong to the family of the Sons of

* See supra, p. 305.

t Journal Asiatiqui\ May, June, 1S91, p. 538, et seqq. Thanks to the fresh squeezes that I
took of this inscription at Nablus, I have managed to decipher completely the fifth line, which
until lately had resisted all attempts. It furnishes us with the exact date of the inscription.
Here is the transcription : —

ion: n'pD Nb'pD] \:hrh

The translation is as follows : '• This is the sepulchre of .\bdmalku, son of Obaisu, the
strategos, which was made for him by Yaamru, the strategos, his brother, in the ist (or 2nd) year
of King Malku, King of Nabatene." King Malku is Malchus III. The monument therefore
belongs to the year 9 or 10 a.d. {Sec the Corpus Jnscriptionuin Seinilicaruin, part II, torn. I,
No. 195.)

1 8 Arch(rolooical Researches in Palesfiiic.

Jaiubri (=: Bene Yaamru), established at Madeba,"" which plays an important
part in the tragic episode which is narrated at length in the first book of
Maccabees (ix, 32-42).

Greek Inscription. — In the wall of a house in the quarter called Hart es
Samara. I noticed a Greek inscription in five lines which had been built in
after the wall was originally erected. I took a copy and a good squeeze, I
afterwards found that it had already been noticed by M. Renan,t who
published it, with learned observations by M. Leon Renier. It relates
to the construction of a building, perhaps of a military nature, here called
lLecroxb)pLov\ ("central fortress"?), under the direction of two officers of the
Roman army, the tribune Flavins Julianus§ and the primipilus Marcellinus,
and under the superior command of a consularis of Palestine whose name
was contained in the first line, which unluckily is missing.

The characters, M. Renan says, appear to be of the fourth century.

_ ^40TAT0YAieTi

^hNYnATiAHiOKfcox^n

;l<GeMeAeiWN(mceHeproAiw

r.REKK INSCRlrXION AT NABLUS.

M. Renan reads it thus : —

[StacrrjJ/xoTaToii || SteVo[t'ro?] Ty]v vTrariav, to /xecro^wpt[oi'j ^ ck dey-eKeioiv

iKTicrdrj, ipyohiui\_K\TovvTO)V <I>X. 'louXtai'ou ■y^iki.dp^ov\ /cat Map/ceXXeiVov tttt.

* Another very important Nabatffian inscription has since been discovered at Madeba itself.
(^See Corpus Inscripiiontim Seiidticarum, loc. cif., No. 196).

t Mission en Phenicie, p. 808.

\ My squeeze confirms the reading of the first three letters ^ica, about which M. Renan was
still doubtful ; on the other hand it indicates an o rather than i after the /).

§ I find a tribune of the same name as ours, Julianus, and belonging to the legion XIV
Gemina, mentioned in a Greek inscription at Soueida (in Batansea), which is only known from a
bad copy in Burckhardt (cf. Waddington, Inscr. gr. et lat. de Syrie, No. 2316(7). This legion
moreover does not appear to have even been garrisoned in Syria. I find yet another Julianus in
a Greek inscription from Auranitis (Waddington, op. at., No. 2407), centurion of the IV Scythian
Legion, which, on the contrary, actually was quartered in this province.

II Aino-zy/ioTnTov corresponds to the official title in the Roman protocol : prefcctissimus.

IT See remarks in the note above.

From /cntsa/ciii to Scbastc {Samaria), and from Scbaslc to Gaza. 319

" . . . . the most perfect such-a-one exercising the consular functions,
the Mesochorion (?) was built from top to bottom, the operations being
directed by Flavins Julianus, tribune, and (Flavins?) Marcellinus, primipilus."'"

What was the building called RIesochoron or MesocJiorioii ? Perhaps, as
is shown by its name and the military functions of the persons entrusted with
building it, a " central fort," designed
to hold in check the Samaritan popu-
lation of Neapolis, which was always
inclined to insurrection. If we could
bring the inscription down to the 5th
century, which is perhaps not pala;o-
graphically impossible, we might be
inclined to think of the fortress erected
on Mount Gerizim in consequence of
the terrible Samaritan revolt which
broke out under the Emperor Zeno.t

Another Greek Inscription. —
Nablus must contain another Greek
inscription of great interest, which was
noticed there at the end of the six-
teenth century by J. van Kootwyck.|
I have made a fruitless search for it on
the spot. As it has been completely
lost to sight by savants for three
centuries past,§ I think it may be as
well to draw attention to it, by pointing
out to future explorers, who will perhaps
be more fortunate than I have been, how it may be found again. It is a large
marble base, moulded at top and bottom, which was built into the wall of an
old tower on the left or south side of the street, in the new bazaar (in Bazarro
novo), in the western part of the town. The Flemish traveller gives a drawing
of it, which is doubtless correct, but only contains unfortunately the beginning

AYTOKPATOPI
AAPIANO ANTXI
NET NO KAISAPI
SEBASTil. EYSE
BI KIPIOMOY <I>I
AIAS

ixscRirriON sekn in ihe bixteemii century

AT NAIil.US.

* Or prctpositus, as M. Egger preferred. The two - tt do in fact lend themselves to this
restoration.

t Procopius, V, 7. Malala, xv, 567.

X Itinerariuiii Hierosotymitaniim ; Antwerp, 1619, p. 431.

§ It does not appear in the Corpus Inscr. Gncc, nor in the Recucil oi M. Waddington.

320 A^'chcrological Researches in Palestine.

of the inscription, the remaining characters being too much worn, he says, for
him to decipher them. Here (p. 319) is -a fac-siniile of the cut he gives.

The proper reading is, correcting a few sHght faults made in copying : —

AvTOKparopi 'XSpLav^w) 'AvTOJveivw Kaia-api Se/SacrTai Evcre/Sl ....
"To the Emperor Hadrian Antoninus Caesar Augustus, the Pious, . . . ."

I will not venture to transcribe the words following, which have evidently
been wrongly read, on account of the worn state of the inscription, and, what
is worse, read by someone who thought he understood them. A naively
faithful copy of the strokes that were visible would have been better. Several
possible restitutions present themselves, in conformity with the known
formulae,* but in such a doubtful case I prefer to refrain.

It was evidently a dedication to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, in whose
name also those splendid coins were struck at Neapolis, bearing a representa-
tion of the temple built a few years before by Hadrian on Mount Gerizim.
It is well known what clemency Antoninus showed the Jews, and the
Samaritans were doubtless no less well treated. It was natural enough that
they should have testified their gratitude by an official dedication ; the object
dedicated is more likely to have been an altar than a statue, in the latter
case the accusative would have been used instead of the dative.

Sundry Antiquities, — While walking about the bazaar, I saw a few
interesting small antiquities in the possession of the goldsmiths, notably
several intaglios, of which I took impressions. One of these appeared to me
to be of exceptional worth. Some years later I managed to acquire the
original, an exorbitant price being then asked for it.t Here is
■A facsimile enlarged from the impression. It is a flat carnelian,
ellipsoidal in shape, the larger diameter being o™' 008. It has a
design cut on it with some rudeness but much character, repre-
senting a personage of Egyptian appearance standing, seen in
profile, and walking to the left, dressed in a tunic descending to
the middle of the legs, bare-headed, his hair long, plaited, and
hano-ing behind. The two arms are stretched out in front ; the right hand
appears to be holding a sort of short stick (a commander's baton?); a fracture

INTAGLIO FROM
NABLUS.

* For example : Kvplic fiov, 0(\/«s [ . . . . /ixica . ? . .

t I gave up the gem to M. Loytved of Beyrouth, and it afterwards went to the Berlin
Museum.

From Jcrusalan to Schaste {Samaria), and from Sebaste to Gaza.

521

in the stone prevents this detail from being clearly recognized. In front
of him is a symbol placed upright, in the shape of a Y with a very long
stem. Behind are three Phoenician letters, cut backwards, so as to give an
impression the right way, which thoroughly proves that this gem was used as
a seal. The first letter has an acute angle like a s^imel, but a gimel does not
lend itself to any possible combination with the two letters following, which,
for their part, are certain ; this cannot therefore be anything but a phe.
This gives HpD PckaJi. This proper name, signifying " vigilance," is quite
Israelite. It occurs in the Bible assigned to a celebrated personage, the
Captain of Pekahyah, King of Israel, who bore almost the same name as his
master. He was a soldier of fortune, who usurped the throne after having
slain Pekahyah at Samaria. If the son of Remalyah* ever had a seal, it must
have been remarkably like this, and if it is rash to regard it as his, it is
allowable at any rate to look upon it as that of some contemporary of his who
bore the same name.
— The same goldsmith had a small objectt of quite another character and

CRUSADING RELIC.

period, a genuine relic of the Crusades, and very interesting in its way. This

* The name Renialyahu occurs on two other archaic Israelite seals that I have already
mentioned in a special memoir : one of a woman, Neehabaf, daughter of Reiiialyahii, and the
other of a man, probably of the same family as the latter, Rcmalyahu, son of Ncryahu. I give this
reading Remalyahu, so as to conform with the reading of the Bible text, which has Remalyah,
with a resh, but I have shown by the aid of these very seals, \vhich are much earlier than the
period when we find the Septuagint using the form "Po/teX/nv, that the primitive reading of
the text was probably Demalyahu, with a daleth, and that the name ought to be thus transcribed
from our seals, and the Bible form Remalyah corrected into Demalyah.

t I afterwards managed to acquire it.

2 T

Air/ueoloncal Researches in Palesthie.

'V}

was a small disk of great thickness (about i™), o"" '038 in diameter, made of
enamelled bronze, having its edge milled with twelve rounded notches.

On one side is seen a shield, havin"- in it a clidtcl of blue enamel or
azure turreted, with a draw-bridge, or rather a double gate. The shield
is inscribed in a circular border of crosslets and fleurons occurring alternately
on the notches of the edge. On the other side, within a similar border,
is another shield, cotticed with enamel of no particular colour and with
azure. The edges are of red enamel or gules, to speak the language of
heraldry, for the character of these ornaments is indubitably heraldic. The
clidtel is also iiiafonitd gules. I suppose that the field, which has been worn
down till the brass shows beneath, may originally have been of gold or silver,
more probably of gold. The design is certainly formed of armorial bearings,
arranged in a way strongly reminiscent of those on certain seals of Crusaders
that have come down to us. I would instance a comparison with a seal of
Gerard, Viscount of Tripoli,* on which there appears on one side a shield of
the same form as those under discussion, charged with fasces, surrounded by
the legend S{igi//H}n) Gjra{r)di vicecomitis, and on the other a turreted clidtcl
with the legend Civitas Tripolis ; that is to say, the individual emblem side by
side with the attributive emblem of the functionary, his name and quality, or
rather his condition, symbolically expressed ; to put it shortly, his arms
accompanied by the representation of the city of which he was Viscount. The
heraldic field not being there, it is difficult to read with accuracy the shield
represented on the object in question, which must have belonged to some
Prankish seigneur who died in Palestine. There suggest themselves, among
others, the arms of Crillon (Balbis-Berton), which are cotticed with gold and
azure. Several members of this family repeatedly took part in the Crusades.
However, I do not lay any stress on this identification.

This object is not without elegance of workmanship ; what can have been
its use ? 1 he answer is not doubtful ; it was the pommel of a dagger. There
is still visible in one of the notches the hole for inserting silk. I have marked
by dotted lines the way in which the pommel may be supposed to have been
joined to the handle of the weapon. In 1881 I found the pommel of a dagger
exactly similar, at Jerusalem, only it had eight notches instead of twelve, and
had not any real armorial bearings on it, but simply an emblematical flower,
though this perhaps was of an heraldic nature.t

* Drawn in Paoli Codice Diplomatico, I, pi. IV, No. 40.

t Clermont-Ganneau, Rapports sur line mission en Palestine et en F/icnicie, p. 65, No. 22. A
third pommel of a dagger, of the same kind, also from Palestine (from Saida, it is said), has been

From Jerusalem to Sebaste [Samaria), and from Scbaste to Gaza.

Environs ok NAblus.

E'mdd ed Din. — We went first of all to visit the sanctuary of E'mad ed
Din, on the mountain rising to the north of Nablus, and representing the
Mount Ebal of tradition. The interior is daubed all over with votive henna.
In a second chamber is a large cenotaph covered with white plaster; at the
foot of it was a broken pot with cinders and incense, bearing witness to the
veneration in which the holy man is held. It is said that there is a ruin
above the sanctuary. When any good man has met with a misfortune, he
comes and spends the night in the wely, and lies down to sleep by the tomb.
The saint — he is still living — then appears to him and brings him gold from
his treasure, which the worshipper finds under his head when he wakes.
E'mad ed Din, or, as he was often called, Sultan E'mad ed Din, was the brother
of Mujir ed Din, whose tomb is below his own, at the foot of the mountain, in
the valley. Both were kings, and had a sister, Sitt S'leimiyeh (cLx^--). whose
sanctuary is not far distant, to the south-east, and has given its name to the
mountain.

Sitt Slcimiyeh. — To get here, we had a very tough climb over rocks,
prickly cactus, dry stone walls, and so on. At the foot of a rocky scarp is
seen an irregular-shaped cavern, and above, a hole, whence a piece of wood
projects : this, it is said, is the end of the coffin [tabbCtt) of the holy woman.
All round the tomb are quantities of holes for putting lamps in. Silt
S'leimiyeh, according to the Mussulmans, was a prophetess, who died at
Damascus or Cairo. When she was placed in her coffin and they were going
to bury her, she flew away, coffin and all, and came and alighted in a hole
in the rock on the top of the mountain at Nablus, to which mountain she
o-ave her name. This is the coffin, of which one end is seen protuding out
of the rock. At a late time, a man who attempted to go up there and e.xamine
it closely, was struck with blindness for the sacrilege. This curious legend
belongs to the fabulous cycle of the flying nebys, which I have several times
had occasion to refer to, and which is a relic of ancient Semitic myths. It
is possible that the story of Sitt S'leimiyeh contains some reminiscence of

described by M. Schlumberger {Bulletin de la SociHe ties Antiquaires de France, 1878, p. 78). It
has only ten notches ; on one side it displays a chAtel with three towers, not unlike the one on
the pommel from Nablus, on the other side a griffin. I have likewise seen another, which came,
it is said, from Aleppo, in the collection of M. (lay at Paris.

2 T 2

524

Archcrological Researches in Palestine.

the dove which the Jews, rightly or wrongly, accused the Samaritans of
worshipping on Mount Gerizim.

El-"ncis. — At the top of the mountain, just above 'Askar, is a ruin called
KImrbet cl-"neis ;* others pronounce it Kuneiseh, '' i\\& little church." The
first pronunciation, as I took it down, involves the existence of an original
form j^>-^*) which may be for ,^/-.>i-*) coming directly from the Greek iKKXyjcria,
while ^^jJo is an old Semitic word.

Rijdl el \4niuc/. — The sanctuary is held in extreme veneration by the
Mussulmans. We found there a box for the offerings of the faithful. A
tomb of a "son of Mahomet" is shown there. It was at this place that
Adam prayed for the first time. A green column sjarung up there. At a
later time forty nebys were buried there, whence the name of Rijdl el "Anmd,
" the men of the column."

Baldta. — Between the barracks and the little village of Balata, at the
foot (^f Mount Gerizim, I noticed in passing an ancient tomb, consisting of a
deep rectangular trough hewn out in the rock, open to the sky, and without
any trace of grooving on the edges. Length i'"-85, breadth o" 70, depth
o"" '95. It must originally have been covered with a large block.

At Balata I saw, in the house of a fellah, a cover of a small sarcophagus,
which, considering the scantiness of its dimensions, must have been really
more like an ossuary. It has a roof-shaped top, adorned at the four
corners with acroteria, and one of its ends is furnished with a projecting
appendage which is exactly reproduced in the drawing below :

I.IU or SARCOniAGUS AT BAI.ATA.

The name Balata at first sight looks as if it might be quite naturally
explained by the Arabic word balata, ''paving-stone." It has, however, been
thought that it might correspond to the Arabic word Ballut, "oak," which is
of Aramaic origin, and so represent the sacred oak of the Shechemites (Judges
ix, 6), which even in Eu.sebius' time was shown in the suburbs of Neapolis,
by the tomb of Joseph. It should be noticed that Yakut vocalises this name

* The sign " represents the /!'i?/(J) as dropped in the Syrian pronunciation.

From Jcnisalcm to Schastc [Samaria), and from Scbasfc to Gaza. 325

Biildta, a fact that would tend to supptjrt this conjecture. On the other hand,
he certainly mentions the traditional tree distinctly, when he says that the
tomb of Joseph, who was buried at Bulata, is under "the tree" {esh
Shadjara) ; this is evidently the S/iajar cl Kheir of the Arabic version of
the Samaritan chronicle, which is a translation of ilanah tabaJi ("the good
oak "). Yakut further locates here a spring of Khidr, which is the name,
though it has now died out in local tradition, of the fine spring of Balata with
its ancient structures. I wonder whether by chance the name Balata could
be connected with that of the famous Sanba/Iaf, the satrap of the king of
Persia who ruled over the Samaritans of Shechem, and who is credited, in a
legend that Josephus gives a confused account of, with founding the temple
on Mount Gerizim, the rival of the one at Jerusalem.

Well of Jacob. — The natives declare that there is a subterranean conduit
uniting the Well of Jacob with the Sanctuary of Sheikh Ghanem on Mount
Gerizim.

'Askar. — At 'Ain 'Askar there is a long tunnel, partly of masonry, with
water running along it. We got into this, but were not able to follow it out
to the end.

It was proposed long since to identify 'Askar with the Sycliar oi the
Gospel, which itself appears to be a corruption of Sichcm. The prothesis of
the \iin in front of the sibilant initial, is quite in conformity with the phonetic
processes of Syrian Arabic. The name in this form is an ancient one : Yakut
speaks of the village of "Askar ez Zcitiin ("'Askar the olive-tree") near
Nablus. In this state it greatly resembles the well-known Arabic word
'askar, " army, soldiers," which, I think, has a similar origin, and helps to
confirm the onomastic identification of Sychar and 'Askar, for I regard the
word 'askar as being derived, if not directly, at least through Aramaic or
other intermedials, from the Hebrew sakar, " to hire," saklr, " mercenary
soldier,"* etc., with prosthesis of the 'ain which has occurred under the same
conditions as in the case of the place-name. These two parallel cases seem
to me to explain each other.

Mount Gerizim. — We paid the regulation visit to Mount Gerizim, and
examined the various ruins there, which have been often described. The
few observations I made there in the course of this rapid survey are no great
addition to those of my predecessors. I made a note in my memorandum-book

* Cf. esJAar, akin to sliatiar, in which form the prosthesis starts with atef'ti, whence to -ain
is a natural transition {Aslilielon = '.Istrntd/i).

326 Archcroiogical Researches vi Palestine.

that the great apse of the octagonal churcli, and even the side chapels, might
have been a subsequent addition to an older building. This impression of
mine would perhaps have been removed by a more attentive examination, but
I think I had better mention it, of course with all due reserve, if only to
provoke some one into setting me right. In front of the birkeh is a well
called Bir or Resds, which, so legend declares, is in communication with the
Well of Jacob in the valley.

I must say that I was particularly struck by the appearance of the conical
mound situated to the north of the traditional site of the Samaritan temple.
People concern themselves too exclusively perhaps about this latter site.
This mound, which bears the rather insignificant name of Tdhunet el Hawd,
" the windmill," seems to me to have been wonderfull)- well adapted for the
site of one at least of the temples that succeeded each other on the summit
of Mount Gerizim.

Here are two sketches of this double peak which I took from two
standpoints and from different levels : I. From the Sanctuary of E'mad ed din.
II. From the Mussulman cemetery lying at the foot of the mountain of Sitt
S'leimiyeh ; a. Sheikh Ghanem, b. Tahunet el Hawa.

No. II.

iioui;iE it.ak: on mount i;eri/.im.

I believe, moreover, that this mound is expressly represented on the
coins struck at Neapolis in the name of the Roman emperors. These show
the Holy Hill with its two summits, one surmounted by the temple built by
Hadrian, the other by an ill-defined building. The first was approached by a
staircase, represented on the coins as perpendicular, the other by a winding
path. The Pilgrim of Bordeaux actually saw, and probabl)' climbed this
staircase, which, says he, had 300 steps in it. If the figures are correct, and
if he means real steps, the length of a man's stride, we might manage by
calculation to arrive at the height and distance of the portico, or colonnade,
which, on the coins, seems to enclose a portion of the mountain-side, and from
which the staircase leading to the temple doubtless started. This staircase
may have led straight down from Tahunet el Hawa towards Rijal el 'Amud ;
If this notion be accepted, the general view represented on the coins must

From [crusalcin to Schastc {Samaria), and from Scbash: to Gaza. 327

have been taken from a point lying north-north-west. It is even perfectly
conceivable that the characteristic name Rijal el 'Amud, " the men of the
columns," may contain some trace of allusion to the colonnade of the portico
that must have stood not far away, on the lowest slopes of Mount Gerizim.

'Ayfin Sarin. — Local tradition at Nablus often speaks of a place in the
neighbourhood called 'Ayfni Sarin, or 'Ayihi es Sarin, " the springs of Sarin."
It is situated, I was told, above Dawaimeh, and must be the place marked on
the Map 'Aiu Sarin, on the eastern side of Jebel et Tor, above Dawerta.
According to the Samaritans, this is where judgments were held and where
the Last Judgment will take place. The story goes that a Samaritan girl, a
great beauty, having been accused of fornication by two Samaritan priests,
whose lustful desires she had refused to gratify, was about to be condemned
to be burned alive. The judge having happened to hear some children who
were amusing themselves with playing at this canse cdlcbre, was struck by the
ingenious method which the one who played the cadi adopted to ascertain the
truth — he put a question to the accusers on a material point which produced
contradictory answers. The judge, inspired by this childish wisdom,
succeeded in breaking down the evidence of the slanderers. The innocence
of the young girl was clearly established, and the two priests were burned
instead of her at 'Ayun Sarin. This, it will be recognized, is the story of
Susannah, with a variant that is also found in one of the Arabian Nights.

Miscellaneous Observations.

— There are at Nablus a great number of baths, several of them of ancient
construction, which would repay an attentive inspection, as the explorer might
perhaps discover in them old materials utilized afresh. In one of these baths,
belonging to the Tokan family, I was told there was an inscription hidden
beneath a layer of mortar. I tried to find it, but without success.
The following is a list of these baths : —
Hammam es Sumard (old).
,, el Kddhy (new).

,, cl Jcdidch (new).

,, el Beidara (ancient).

,, ed Dcrejeh (the most ancient of all).

,, et Temimy (new).

,, el Khalil (old, now in ruins).

328 Aych(coh\i^ical Researches in Palestine.

— Many of the Mussulman houses in Nablus have over their doors long
inscriptions painted in red, nearly all containing the same formula, and
designed to inform the passer-by that the owner has performed the pilgrimage
to Mecca. Here is one taken at hazard, which I will translate as a specimen:

" In the name of the gracious and merciful God. Victory comes from
God, and the triumph is near ; and he has announced to the Mussulmans
that Paradise is theirs. Has made the pilgrimage to the House of God, to
the Haram, and has visited the tomb of Mohammed (to whom be blessings
and salvation) the Hajj Mustapha, son of the deceased Ahmed Karakush.
Consecration made the blessed day Monday, in the year 1288."

— Here are a few notes, corrections and additions to Rosen's plan of
Nablus, from information acquired on the spot : —

Jebel Sitt S leimiyeh, with makam not of masonry ;

^Ain 'Askar (not el 'Askar) ;

'Ain Da/nek (not dc/na) ;

The tell formed of ashes is called Malaton ;

A fishpond called Birkct et Tatvireh (iojLll) ;

Habs cd Dam ;

K/idn ez Z'bib ;

el Karion (not Kariihi) ;

Ukdl et Tujjdr ;

Mosques : — Jdnie' el Kebir ;

,, en Nascr ;

,, el HandUleh [oS. the Hanbalites) ;

, , es Sdtiir {,^\A\ ) ;

,, el Khadhrd';

, , et Tineh ;

,, el Anbid ;

,, el Masdkin ;

„ el Bek.
ed Derimshiyeh (tombs of Mussulman Santons).

— A fellah at Sebustieh had in his possession the head of a statue of black
stone, that might be got for a mejidieh.

— Sem'an Ishak, the present Latin curate at Ramallah, has in his possession
an ancient censer found in the course of the excavations made in building the
barracks at Nablus.

— The Samaritan Yakub Sheleby assured me that the true tomb of Joshua
is at Kifir Nininuh'a (I give his pronunciation of the name). I have not

From Jcmtsalein to Scbastc iySaniaria), and from Scbasfc to Gaza. 329

been able to determine the position of this place. I found it mentioned in the
Samaritan Chronicle in the form Kefr N^cmarch. and perhaps also as Tirath
Nemarch. According- to others the tomb of Joshua is at 'Awerta.* At Kefil
Hares is the tomb of Kifil, who is Caleb, son of Yefenni {Jeplmnncit).

— To the west of the town, at the place called Siteitcrch or Skucifrch^'
where there was formerly a convent called Dcir clJSondok, two large columns,
one of them adorned with a cross, are said to have been discovered some time
ago during an excavation.

— Near 'Ain Dafneh arc remains of ancient masonry and dekdkin.

— Martin Bulos, a mason by trade, while working at the rc^pairs of th<i
Nablus barracks, saw in the foundation a column or pillar i^amud), with an
inscription, thirty inches long, in large characters, which, as he said to me,
resembled those on the Moabite stone, specimens of which I showed him.
Unfortunately the column was left where it was, and a wall has been erected
upon it. I

— A Mussulman living in Jerusalem, by name Abu s-S"ud, told me that a
cave had been recently discovered near Nablus with several large sarcophagi
and that one of them had been taken to the town and used as a trough {j-dn)
for a fountain, the others being left in the cave.§

* The old Arab geographers also mention Joshua's tomb as being at 'Awerta.

t I noticed that at Nabkis the s and the s/i are frequently interchanged. Thus shajara,
" tree," is often pronounced sajara.

\ Note made in 1871 (Carnet IV, p. 29). — It was the same Martin wlio was once sent with
some other workmen to cut out the has-rcUcf of FigiV (discovered in the land of Moab by
M. de Saulcy, and presented to the Louvre by the Due de Luynes). He assured me that the
block was square, and the rear face iicrfectly smooth, without any trace of characters on it.

lie saw at Karak, in the drystone wall (jednr) of one of the gardens round about the town,
a magnificent block of black basalt, representing an eagle in high relief, the workmanship being
of the same kind as that of the FigiV bas-relief, but of a superior kind. Irby and Mangles
(Travels, etc., 184}, p. iii) say that they saw at Karak, "close to a well, a great wing sculptured
in basso-relievo, bearing much resemblance to those which we had seen attached to the gloi)e in
Egyptian buildings." They did not notice in it any trace of a globe, and could form no idea of
its intended use. This fragment, 7 ft. long and 4 ft. broad, belongs perhaps to the monument
described by Martin, whose account is sufliciently in agreement with that of the two explorers to
give it credibility

S November, 1870, Carnet IV, j). 9/'. The same Mussulman told me also that he had
seen at 'Amman, on the north-eastern side of the town, the ruir.s of a building called by the
Bcdawin El Masbagha (" the dyeing-house "), and that (here were outside the ruins five or six large
carved s.arcophagi placed on benches {tnaslaba). This must be the remarkable tomb described in
the Survey of Eastei-n Palestine, pp. 47, 48. The verification of this i)iece of information is a
ceneral witness to the veracity of Abou s-S"iid, whose testimony I quote in Part I with regard to
the ancient Arab archives of Jerusalem.

2 U

33<^

ArchcEological Researches in Palestine.

From Nablus to Sebustieh (Sebaste).

We left Nablus on the Saturday morning for Sebaste.

Zaimta. — We followed the water-course of Wad esh Sh"ir as far as the
little village of Zawata, where we halted for lunch on the banks of a pretty
little stream flowing northwards, with delicious watercress growing in it, quite
a treat for our horses and ourselves. The inhabitants of the village brought
me two antique objects, which I lost no time in acquiring.

The first was a kind of small vase of very curious shape, made of marble,
or rather hard white limestone, polished and carefully cut. It is a nearly
hemispherical block, the lower part, from which a .segment has been cut off,
formino- a wide base with a rim. On the sides two handles are carved in
relief lying very close to the rounded sides. On the flat side is a small
cup-like depression, so that the whole looks like a kind of basin with an
extremely thick edge. The cupule is surrounded by concentric incised circles,
one ornamented with notches, that make it look as if it were, so to speak,
graduated, the other with fifteen squares, each subdivided into twelve parts.

.Side view.

FRONT VIEW 01-' SMALL LIMESTONE V.ASE
FROM NABLUS (diameter o"i '86).

Section (diameter of the central aipide o'n'04).

What can this strange object have been used for? Was it meant for
libations of a religious character? It seems very small for such a purpose,
and the capacity of the cupule is quite insignificant.* I wonder whether by
chance it was a sekonia, that is to say, a standard of measure of capacity.

* 2i fluid drachms

From Jerusalem to Schastc {Sa?iiaria), and from Sebastc to Gaza.

JO'

TESSp-.KA OF EGYPTIAN STYLE
FROM NAHLUS.

A little later I iuund in the possession of a fellah at

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